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Act X: Tale Of Two Werewolves

When I arrived at the bunker in Leeds, my car phone rang. I picked up the receiver.

"Danath?"

It was indeed Danath Gaul.

"Jansen? Good. I'm glad I caught you before you returned to Athens. Another mission has popped up, and you're the only one who can handle it. Before you complain, listen closely. This call came in from Romania. He said his name was Octavius. He also said you'd know who he was."

I blinked my eyes as I rubbed my fingers over the von Hammer clasp Octavius had given me.

"Yes, he and his sister entertained me the last time I was there. What's the mission?"

Danath continued.

"Octavius told me to relay this message to you. Some cattle in Romania were recently killed and the tracks at the scene suggested a wolf. Not long after that, a mysterious hunter showed up offering to hunt down and kill the wolf responsible for this. Octavius said that the hunter's name was Infinity Vale. That sounds like a fake name to me. Perhaps to disguise his real name."

I hummed.

"You're right, Danath. That does sound fake. But I don't see how a wolf killing cattle is any of our concern."

Danath continued on.

"Octavius told me to tell you that this hunter tried to kill Sebastian. He said you'd know what that meant. What does it mean?"

Danath got to hear me growl some pretty nasty language. Then, I took a breath and exhaled.

"Sebastian is the werewolf that helped me defeat the O'dora family last year. Without his help, I'd never have gotten as close to that castle as I did. I'll catch the jet to Romania immediately. We're dealing with a non Chess werewolf hunter. And it's my guess that he personally killed the cattle himself and lay the wolf tracks around so his being there could be explained away without suspicion."

Danath actually growled over the phone.

"Okay, Jansen. That makes this a priority one Chess mission. Damned amateurs show up and think they know everything. Byron, Mark and Locke will rendezvous with you in Arad, Romania. They'll be at the local Chess bunker even if we have to -build- one! Team up with them and lead them north to Chisineu-Cris. Octavius said he'd meet you and your team at the Pub Restaurant. And Jansen, you're in charge of this little skirmish. The others will follow your lead. And I expect a full damned report on this mess. In your handwriting! Good luck, Jansen."

Danath was heard slamming the phone down.

I sort of grinned. This was the first time I had ever heard Danath really lose his cool. I guess he really hated Chess wannabes. I checked the car in, though I kept the emergency pack. Something told me that I was going to need it. I headed to the airport and caught the private jet headed to Arad, Romania. I was soon underway. This mission didn't have a place for fooling around. This was serious. More serious than I knew. Serious as in a threat to my life.

Some time later, the private jet was flying over southern Germany and had just radioed the Munchen, Germany, airport, when suddenly, something seemed to collide with our right wing. I looked out a window and saw that the whole wing was completely gone. As if it had been ripped off of the jet. I scrambled to get into my parachute. This was one part of my training I hated: abandoning your vessel. The pilot told me to go, while he tried to get the jet away from any populated areas. I hated leaving anyone behind, so I knocked him out from behind and hurriedly carried him to the emergency exit and blew the hatch. Then, I jumped while holding onto the pilot. There are certain nightmares involved when doing something like this. My primary nightmare happened. The pilot slipped out of my grasp and vanished into the dark clouds below.

I cussed as I pulled the rip cord. My chute opened and I slowly began descending. I never heard the jet crash. All I could think of was how I lost a fellow Chess agent. Then, the damned wind decided to play unfair. I was pulled down through the clouds pretty rapidly and I saw the ground approaching pretty fast. I closed my eyes and prayed.

When the ground didn't make me into a pancake, I slowly opened my eyes to see why not. Sitting on a hovering broomstick was a pretty young witch. My parachute was draped over the end of her broom. She had long luscious blond hair and sparkling green eyes. She wore dark red robes over her extremely shapely feminine body. I surmised that she was about five foot nine inches tall and perhaps weighed 135 pounds. She wore shiny black heeled shoes. There was a black cat with violet eyes draped over her neck. She smiled when she saw that my eyes were open.

"Bad night for flying. I'm Rosa Saturnyne. This is my cat, Tabor Talbot."

Tabor lifted his head.

"Charmed, I am sure. Rosa, we're going to be late. Drop this guy off somewhere and let's go."

Rosa gave Tabor a look.

"In a minute. We just saved this guy. Plus, he's kind of cute. Like you used to be."

I blinked my eyes.

"Did you say Saturnyne?"

Rosa looked to me again.

"Yes. Has my family gotten in trouble again?"

I exhaled a breath.

"I am Jansen Tanner, Black Bishop of Chess. Your family hired us a few years ago to stop Thalia Saturnyne from doing further harm. I only regret that I lost my partner during that mission and that Thalia was slain by a pool of cold water."

Rosa seemed surprised.

"Oh. So, you're with Chess. I'm sorry about your partner. We were never told what happened. Only that Thalia had been stopped."

Rosa set me down on an open pathway in a deep part of the Black Forest.

"This will have to do for now. There is a Chess bunker to the south of the forest. I regret that I cannot afford to take you there. I am already horribly late for a coven meeting. My sisters will be angry enough."

I smiled and gave her my card.

"Show this to your sisters and tell them the truth. You saved a Chess agent from a horrible accident. Now you better go. Good luck at your coven meeting."

Rosa waved at me, and was quickly on her way northwards, over the trees. I started my long walk south. Danath would never believe this. What had caused the jet's wing to be removed?

I was glad I took that French and German language class back at Chess now. I got tired of having to have a translator telling me what people said. I continued walking. Somewhere along the journey, I suddenly realized that I was no longer walking on the path. I looked around and grumbled to myself. Now, not only was I going to be late, but I was lost in the Black Forest at night. I decided to keep walking towards what I hoped was south. I thought it odd that with all the roadways in Germany that I had not heard a single vehicle during this walk. That worried me. Where was I at?

Finally, I emerged into a clearing with an east to west dirt track. There was an inn and tavern here, with connecting stables. The old sign over the inn door read "The Charming Goat." I heard horses in the stables, and there were lights on in the tavern. I entered the tavern and sat at the bar on one of the stools. The innkeeper, wearing outdated medieval-styled clothing, greeted me and served me an ale. I looked to him and asked,

"Please. Can you tell me where I am?"

The innkeeper arched an eye at me.

"You're in the Charming Goat Inn and Tavern."

I grumbled at that.

"No, I mean where is this place close to. I'm trying to get to Besen, Switzerland."

He looked me over.

"You must be lost. You're in the Barony of Gott'schlecht and if the Baron catches a stranger in these parts, you'll likely be arrested for being a spy. Just drink your ale and go. And don't bother telling me who you are. Just go. I don't want your blood on my paws, er, hands."

The innkeeper quickly left the room. Did he say "paws?" Something about this area was really starting to worry me. I finished my ale and left a quarter on the bar. I had to pay for it. I turned to the door and saw a map on the wall. Ah, now I could find out where I was. I blinked my eyes at the odd names on the map. And the bizarre borders and province names. It was like I had landed in a totally forgotten part of the world. I walked out the door and sighed. Now what was I to do? I was tempted to take a horse, but that would be stealing and no Tanner was ever a horse thief. I sighed again and considered letting the Baron find me. But that "paws" statement still bothered me. I decided to head east along the dirt track. When the sun rose, I could get a better idea on where I was. I set off.

Though that was the plan, nothing ever goes as planned. I came upon a strange congregation of people all wearing out of date clothing. It seemed to be a small farming community secluded by this forest. The mob of people were all chanting the words, "Burn the wolf! Burn the wolf!" I sneaked around and finally saw what they were doing. The villagers had a young male werewolf tied to a big wooden cross and were preparing to burn it. I had to act fast.

I opened the emergency anti wizard pack and pulled out an item called, "the fear of god." I then crept up behind the cross and set off the "item." It created a humongous flash and the illusion of an angry archangel with flaming sword raised at the villagers. They fled the area like crazy! I then used my knife to cut the bonds on the young werewolf, telling him that I was saving him.

Once he was free, the werewolf and I fled the scene back into the forest to the west. We both ran for quite a ways. When we both stopped, he finally turned and looked at me, sniffing me, and panting raggedly. I offered him some of the water from my canteen. He was reluctant to accept it, at first, until I showed him that it was safe, by drinking some myself. He then took his fill of the water. Cool and refreshing. He grinned at me and hugged me tightly. I could tell that we was grateful for the timely rescue. He continued to sniff me, then started removing my clothes from me. That surprised me. I obliged the odd request and was soon nude before him. He resumed sniffing me all over. I felt this was strange; I had saved his life. This maneuver made no sense. Nothing in the werewolf books at Chess even mentioned this.

Suddenly, he pushed me over on all fours and tried to mount me. I started to object, but then, I heard something that sounded like, "my lord is watching; submit and you will live to see another day." I looked around for that quiet something but saw nothing. Then, I felt the impaling sensation of the werewolf as he began riding me in the darkness of the forest. This went on for several hours, until I felt a sudden pain, heard an audible popping sound, and he howled loud and long. I passed out at that point.

When I did reawaken, I was lying in the hay of the stables at The Charming Goat. The werewolf I had saved was in bed with me and there was an enormous non anthropomorphic black wolf the size of a triceratops in the room. He gazed upon me with his calm green eyes and spoke in German.

"So you're a Chess agent. I had long wondered what your people were like. What brings you to my barony?"

I explained the whole ordeal to the wolf, telling the truth. How the jet had developed trouble, how I had to bail out, how the young witch saved me from dying and how I had saved this young werewolf from being burned at the wooden cross in the east village. I then explained my mission to stop a werewolf hunter in Romania and how I felt that I was going to be too late.

The large wolf pondered this.

"You will not be too late. A night has not passed, as yet. I will en gift you with a wolf trick to make ridiculously long journeys to and from any location where an allied wolf calls you a friend, without any time passing at all. You will always be able to return to The Charming Goat as an allied location. You did save one of my citizens. You are not like other Chess agents."

I grinned at the wolf.

"No, I am not like the others. I am a Tanner."

The large wolf grinned back.

"And I am the Baron."

Somehow, that didn't surprise me.

"For the record, I don't like killing beings and people of mystery and magic. I try to find peaceful methods of solving a problem."

I then told the Baron about my blood oath to Xim. It still pained me to talk about Xim.

"Ah, so you're the one that Jael told me about. Yes, you will forever be welcome in my barony. At any time. And yes, I do know Jael. I knew Xim too. You must have liked Xim a lot."

I cried a little as I remembered Xim. The Baron and the werewolf comforted me. An hour later, after a long hot bath, getting dressed, having a hot meal and getting my gear together again, the Baron showed me how to do the wolven travel magic. This was my first magic spell. This was showing great trust to allow a Chess agent to learn wolf magic. I hugged the Baron, then kissed the young werewolf and groped him, then used the wolf magic to transport myself to Arad.

When I walked into the Chess bunker in Arad, my fellow agents were already there. I told them what happened to the jet and how a young witch and a local baron in Germany helped me get here. Then, I and my friends held a meeting. Byron, Locke and Mark all listened to my instructions on my knowledge of the area. I told them to carry no silver ammo on this trip. They were all very reluctant to give it up. I told them to give it up or go back to Athens with their tails between their legs. Locke thought that was funny. They all surrendered their silver weapons.

We then rode in a jeep to Chisineu-Cris and went to the Pub Restaurant. Octavius was waiting on us as we walked into the room. He greeted me and I introduced him to the others. Then, I had Octavius fill us in on Infinity Vale's most recent activities. Octavius gave us a full report on the bastard's whereabouts and activities. He also commented that the man was using both silver and poison. The others saw me growling fiercer than any wolf, werewolf or otherwise.

I then announced that I was going to go look for Sebastian. The others wanted to come along, but I told them to hunt down and kill Infinity Vale. Not maim, but kill. An eye for eye. They all saw how serious I was. I turned to Octavius and told him to keep an eye on the three and make sure the hunter was slain. I then headed out of the building. Mark caught up to me and begged me to let him come with me. I kind of liked Mark and grumbled, granting him that privilege.

The travel magic surprised Mark as we both were instantly transported to Sebastian's caverns. We both heard the warning growl immediately. I stepped in front of Mark, shielding him.

"Sebastian! It's Jansen Tanner. From last year. Your friend."

The growling stopped and there was a shifting motion as Sebastian emerged from the shadows. He was in his anthropomorphic wolf man form. From his eyes, I could tell that he was glad to see me.

"Jansen! Thank Poseidon it is you! Who is this?"

I moved aside, revealing Mark Jolson.

"Sebastian, this is one of my agent friends, Mark Jolson. Mark, this is the last scion of Poseidon, Sebastian. Captain of the Sea Wolf Brigade."

Sebastian grinned when he saw that I had remembered his title. Mark shook Sebastian's paw, then stepped back to let me talk.

"Sebastian, I have reason to believe that the hunter is a werewolf hunter. You're his target; not the so called wolf who supposedly killed the cattle."

Sebastian hummed quietly.

"I believe you, Jansen. He uses silver bullets and almost got me. I have been in hiding ever since I told Octavius about this event. I do remember one detail about the hunter: he said that this hunt was easier than his kill that he made in San Francisco, California, a few years ago."

I growled some really vulgar things that only a wolf could decipher. Mark was starting to fear me. Even Sebastian stepped back from me.

"Hogan Slade... at last... this is for you, Xim... that bastard is here in Romania... he won't get away from me... his blood will flow like an over ripe tomato..."

Mark and Sebastian thought I had lost my mind. I was talking to the air itself. But I was on a vengeance streak now. Hogan Slade was here. And so was I.

The next few days was spent with Mark trying to keep up with me as we hunted for that bastard, Hogan Slade. I didn't let any rumor or sighting of him escape me. Finally, I had him in my sights. It was a late evening and I had a very clear shot. I was blinded by rage. I pulled the trigger on my long range sniper rifle. I must have nicked his ear, as he went down on the ground with a scream. I quickly unpacked an A34. Mark yelped when saw me activate the thing in my hands with a 30 second timer. I slid the A34 into a rocket launcher and fired the thing into the middle of Hogan Slade's camp. He must have recognized what it was, for he leaped up with rifle in hand and tried to get out of the camp. But he was a little slow as the A34 detonated in a huge blast of a fiery inferno of liquid nitrogen! The whole camp was totally destroyed, as was Hogan's lovely little motorcycle. The blast had blown him off a cliff into the far raging river below. For the next few hours, we all, Byron, Locke, Mark, Octavius, Sebastian and I searched the entire length of the river from impact point on for several miles.

Back at Castle von Hammer, Sebastian and I were locked into a very private room. Sebastian was using every trick he knew to help restore my mind to it's normal rational self. This took a few days. The others were honored guests in the von Hammer castle during this time.

When I finally snapped back into my usual self, I wept over how insane with vengeance I had become. Somehow, I knew that I had failed Xim. That bastard somehow got away from us. But he had to be very very injured from the things I had done to him. I cried in Sebastian's arms and slept with my large Wolfy friend. Sebastian held me tightly and slept with me.

It wasn't until three days later that Sebastian and I emerged from the bedroom. Sebastian always looked great. I looked like a mess. I needed another long hot bath and it was given too!

Afterward, I sat down at a roll top desk and picked up a quill and dipped in into the inkwell. I began recording my report. But this time, the report was very different and very moving... the way I wrote it seemed to assist the reader in feeling like they were there... right there with us during every action and reaction. Again, I made Sebastian out to be the hero. He helped restore me to a more rational state of mind. I ended it by writing that not all supernatural creatures were menaces to mankind and under unusual circumstances, could be relied on for support and friendly team work when facing something even more dangerous to the land they lived in. I smiled and let the others read the report. They agreed with me and we all signed the report. I felt like something special had occurred between myself and my Chess friends.

We spent a few more days with the von Hammers and Sebastian, then it was time to return to Athens. My friends and I drove back to Arad and reported to the bunker where I had them retrieve their silver ammo. Byron looked at me and hummed.

"You were right about the werewolf. We didn't need our silver ammo. But how did you know?"

I smiled as I remembered Jesse "the outlaw" Vanya and the words he told me before his fatal mission with me in Germany.

"Regardless of what is written in the Chess text books, never expect your subject to totally obey what you've been taught. They are people just like we are. They can think, and they can react to any situation that changes their normal lifestyle. Jesse told me that on my first Chess mission... the mission he never returned from..."

The others lowered their heads and closed their eyes. We all felt the same way about Jesse.

Hours later, we were all back in Athens. I turned my report in to Danath Gaul. Then after being dismissed, we all visited Jesse's memorial within the Chess Hall of Fame. We held a prayer vigilance in Jesse's honor. I was sure that he would not have expected such from his fellow agents. This lasted for several hours. Then, we departed for a meal at Nicodemus' Tavern.

---

She sighed as she too felt as if she had been there with Jansen and the others.

"They almost had that bastard. Poor Jansen! That must have torn him up a lot to have had to accept the fact that he failed to catch the guy. Speaking of serious guys, I wonder if I should call Josh Savage and let him know where Jansen is?"

She continued reading Jansen's agent history.

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