{"sf1_id":566095,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Skyfall Chapter 13","author":"Abyssa","words":4526,"posted_at":"2013-07-21T18:16:00.000Z","tags":["Alien","Anthro","Canine","Gore","Human","Hybrid","Laboratory","Male","Werewolf","Wolf","fight"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/566095-skyfall-chapter-13","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/566095","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=566095\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n13\n \nI followed Kato into the small room. The drapes were drawn and the room\nwas dimly lit by candles. It had two large beds that were blanketed with colorful\nsheets. This place felt much more welcoming than the perfect-white, sterile\nstate of the laboratory. \n  Misha had collapsed on one\nof the beds already. He had stripped down to his boxers, and the blanket was\ndraped over his lower half. He was already peacefully asleep. \n  I imagined they all must\nbe very exhausted after walking through the pass. I felt a bit guilty for\nriding on the painted horse the entire time. I also felt somewhat exhausted,\ndespite having been comatose for two days. The atmosphere in the room made me\ndrowsy.\n   \"I can take the floor if...\" Kato whispered.\n  I shook my head, \"It's\nfine. It's a large bed.\" I said, eyeing the spot next to Misha. \"I don't mind.\"\n\n   It was partially true...I wouldn't mind\nsleeping next to Misha like this, in this setting, and I felt better knowing\nKato would be just a few feet away. \n  Kato wandered into the\nbathroom and began to shower. I slipped off my clothes and sank down on the bed\nnext to Misha. His hair was damp from his shower, and his skin smelled like\nspiced soap. \n  I pulled the blanket up as\ndelicately as I could to avoid disturbing Misha. He stirred anyway, and rolled\nover to face me. His eyes opened slightly, and he smiled before sinking back\ninto unconsciousness. His arm wrapped around mine as he moved closer to me. My\nears fell as I wrapped myself around him.\n  Everything felt surreal.\nI began to wonder if I would wake up... This moment felt less real than my\nencounter with the goddess had. \n  I heard the water shut\noff, and my body jerked away from Misha's. He stirred again but rolled over to\nthe other side of the bed this time. I closed my eyes and pretended to be\nasleep as Kato came out from the shower and got into the bed across from us. I\nfelt ashamed...I didn't want Kato to know I was still clinging to Misha like\nthis. I knew he wouldn't judge me, but I still felt ashamed. \n  I stared at the man\nsleeping beside me. Why couldn't I shake this feeling? I knew he was bad for me.\nI knew that he didn't deserve my attention or my time...so why couldn't I just\nforget about him? Is this what love meant here...an undying attraction for\nsomeone that doesn't fade, regardless of how badly they treat you? I sank back\ndown onto the pillow and closed my eyes.\n \nNot much time passed before I felt Misha stirring in the bed. He got up\nand shook my shoulder, \"Come on, Decipher.\" He whispered, \"I have to go to the\ngardens. Try to keep quiet. I don't want to wake Kato.\"\n  I got out of bed and\nslipped my clothing back on, catching Misha's eye wandering across my body.  Misha tossed me my supply bag and we snuck out\nof the room as quietly as possible.\n  The tavern was busier\nthan it had been when we arrived this afternoon. Misha and I wandered through\nthe crowd and out the door. Outside the air was still and the sun was beginning\nto set. The town looked beautiful in the twilight. There were hues of gold and\norange shining from fires and dimly lit lanterns. The lanterns seemed to be\npowered by pure energy of different colors, some were faintly golden, while others\nshimmered with a blue, colder tint. I also saw a few shimmering lights dancing\naround the town, perhaps fairies?\n  \"Come on.\" Misha said,\n\"There's an herb specialist and a garden on the other side of town where I can\ncollect the things I need. If we hurry, there's a refinery on the way, perhaps\nyou can purchase some metals to complete your dagger?\"\n  I nodded, \"That sounds\ngreat.\" I said as we began to walk farther into town. \n  The town bustled with\nactivity; it seemed everyone was just returning from their busy day at work. A\nfew people we passed stared at me uncomfortably, but when they saw that I did\nnot act like a werewolf, their minds were eased. \n  \"No worries.\" Misha\nlaughed, \"People are used to weird sights around here. The Dark Goddess\nfrequents this town, and often has visitors that take strange forms, not to\nmention her children.\" He said, pointing to a dark path that led into the\nforest, \"There is also a large castle a few miles, and the lord of the castle\nis a vampire who employs werewolves.\"  \n  I nodded. \"I remember\nthat.\" I lied, \"Eldon is home to many of the vampire's employees, right?\" \n  \"Yeah.\" Misha said. \"So\nyou're remembering things?\"\n  \"Bits and pieces. I guess\nmy amnesia was so persistent because I knew nothing about the lab.\" I paused to\nlook at the nearest lantern, which sparkled with green light, \"I have a feeling\nthat I've missed this place.\"\n  \"That makes sense.\" Misha\nsaid with a glance in my direction.\n  We approached a small,\nbrick building that had a brilliant orange glow. There was no wall on the\noutside section of it, and inside sat a few forges that were glowing with\nembers and liquid metals. A busy man moved large vats of the orange liquids and\npoured them into various molds. The smell of singed metal floated into my nostrils.\n\n  After the man finished,\nhe turned to us with a gruff expression. \"Evening, fellows.\" He said, keeping\nhis eyes on me, \"What can I do for you?\" \n  \"I need some heavy brass,\"\nI said as I pulled the dagger blade out of my supply bag. \"Something that would\nwork as a hilt for this.\"\n  The man peered at the\nblade and nodded, \"I can forge a hilt for your dagger tonight, if you'd like.\nJust leave the blade here.\" \n   \"That would be good.\" Misha said,\n\"We will be back to pick it up after we run some errands.\"\n  I nervously handed the\nman the dagger blade, \"This is very important to me.\" I said, watching his\nblackened hands take the blade carefully. I didn't really know why I treasured\nthe blade; I didn't even have any intention to use it. Something about it just\nseemed important. \n  \"I am sure it is,\" the\nman smiled as he examined the blade, \"Quite a rare stone you have here. Don't\nworry, I'm an expert. It'll be ten pieces.\"\n  I dug in my satchel\naround and looked at the handful of coins Kato must have inside it. I had\nplenty. I nodded to the man, \"Sure. Thank you.\"\n  Misha and I headed down\nthe brick trail into a darkened area. Little flickers of light sparkled here\nand there, but there were no lanterns or candles out here. The brick trail\nturned into a dirt path that led us to a short, white fence. Misha opened the\ngate and we stepped into the garden.\n  The garden felt very\ncalming as we walked into it. The smells of all the flowers danced in my mind.\nI wanted to see what they looked like, so I followed my nose to a clump of\nflowers. Unfortunately, they were starting to close up for the night. I wished\nwe had come during the day, perhaps I would visit again sometime. \n  Misha picked at a few\nplants. I knew my eyes were more sensitive to light than his, a side effect of\nbeing half wolf, but even I was having trouble distinguishing differences in\nthe plants. Misha on the other hand moved through the vast assortment of plants\nlike an expert.\n  \"How can you tell what\nyou're looking for?\" I asked Misha as he shoved a bundle of herbs into his\nsatchel.\n   \"I've been here many times.\" He\nlaughed, \"It's easy enough to tell what you're looking for, either by smell,\nfeel, or sight. Come look.\"\n  He gestured me towards\nhim and held out a twisted root that looked pretty insignificant to me. He\nwatched me study it for a few moments, and then handed it to me.\n  \"This is fleurant.\" He\nsaid, \"Shake it up and see how it feels.\" \n  I shook the thick root,\nand it became warm in my hands. I stopped shaking it and examined the root\nagain, but I couldn't see any difference. As I held it, the rough texture of\nthe plant became smooth and fuzzy but it still looked the same. I smiled as the\nfeeling of the root became more and more strange.\n  \"What does it do?\" I\nasked with a short laugh.\n  \"It's an antiseptic.\" Misha\nsaid as he dug into the dirt, \"The root only does that at night, though. Many\nof the plants I need only have reactions later in the day.\"\n  Part of the garden was\nraised and had a stone edge. I sat on the stones and watched Misha sift through\nthe plants. I caught glimpses of fairies zooming in and out of some of the\nshrubs. Some of them had collected berries that they were returning home with.\nI looked up at the sky. It wasn't black yet, but a few stars had begun to\nshimmer in the darkening blue.\n  After a few moments of\nsilence, I muttered, \"Oh, by the way, sorry for sneaking into your bed\nearlier.\" \n  Misha didn't look up\nfrom his work, but I sensed his smile. \"You think I cared?\"\n  I stayed quiet until he\nlooked up at me, \"Well, I don't know.\" I said, \"It would have been awkward for\nme if our positions were reversed...\"\n   Misha gave me a genuine, warm smile,\na smile I wanted to burn out of my memory. I hated that smile. I couldn't\nresist it. \n  \"My feelings for you\nremain unchanged, you know.\" Misha said as he walked closer to me. \"But I\nunderstand if you still feel uncomfortable.\" \n\n  \"Who owns the garden?\" I\nasked before he could get closer. I didn't have the energy to resist him.\nBesides, I was honestly curious. Even my downloaded information knew very\nlittle about this garden.\n  \"Kei,\" Misha said as he\nturned to pick a few berries, \"She has a business negotiation with TRIL, and so\nwe can come pick from her garden whenever we're in town. Come on,\" Misha said,\nglancing at a slip of paper, \"the rest of the things I need are inside with\nher.\"\n  We approached a small,\ncobblestone hut that radiated a golden glow into the garden. Misha knocked at\nthe door a few times.\n  The door opened and the\noverwhelming smell of sweet pie hit me. I couldn't help but sniff the air to\nget more of the delicious smell. The short woman behind the door giggled as she\nsaw me. I looked down at her. Her face was aged, but she wasn't elderly. She\nwas about a head shorter than Misha, and had a curved figure. Her auburn hair\ncurled and fell just past her shoulders. Everything about her seemed so warm\nand welcoming.\n  \"Misha!\" She said as she\nembraced him in a hug, \"Great to see you!\"\n  Misha laughed. \"Hello,\nKei!\" He said, gesturing to me, \"This is Decipher.\"\n  She grinned at me, \"You\nsmell the pie, don't you, doggy?\" She asked with an excited bounce. I would\nhave been offended if she didn't seem to be so genuinely happy when she said it,\n\"Misha, I just made pie! Come in and have some!\" \n  My ears perked up with\nexcitement, and my tail swished behind me. These reactions were all\ninvoluntary, but they seemed to make Kei giggle again. I felt a bit flustered\nas she welcomed us into her small home. The scent of freshly baked pie made my\nmouth water. I had never smelled something so delicious before.\n  \"What do you fellows\nneed today?\" She asked as she moved across the room to where her kitchen was\nset up. Misha and I took a seat on a couch by her fireplace.\n  \"I have a list here, and\nwe picked from the gardens already.\" Misha said as he tossed his satchel onto\nthe table in the kitchen, \"Send charges for all of it back to the facility.\"\n   Kei scooped up two slices of gooey, blue\npie and served them to Misha and I, along with a pot of tea. I snatched the\nfork and took a bite as quickly as I could without making myself look like a\nfool.  \n   The taste was better than the scent was. The liquefied,\nwarm fruits had been soaked in spices and sugars. I think I might have let out\na moan of pleasure after my first bite.\n  \"This is so amazing.\" I\nsaid once I could speak again, staring at Kei with a dazed grin. \"Thank you so\nmuch!\"\n  Misha and Kei both\nlaughed at me this time. \"Yeah. That's what happens to everyone when they have\nKei's pie for the first time.\" Misha laughed, picking at his own piece. \n  \"Oh, you're welcome,\nhoney!\" Kei said as she glanced at the herbs Misha had collected. She picked up\nhis list and looked through it. Her face became more serious as she studied the\nitems on the list. \"Looks like you need some potent things, Misha.\" \n   \"It's been a busy year.\" Misha said as\nhe sipped his tea. \n  \"Will it be safe to\ntravel with wolfsbane with your friend?\" She asked.\n  \"I believe so,\" Misha\nsaid as he studied me, \"but if it affects him I brought some antidote just in\ncase. We don't know much about Decipher yet.\" \n  I might have asked\nquestions if I didn't have the pie, but the crisp, buttery crust kept me quiet.\n\n  \"Well, let me go pack\nthe potent herbs.\" She said before vanishing through a cellar door.\n  \"Potent herbs?\" I asked\nonce the warmth of the pie faded enough for me to form a coherent thought. \n  \"Poisons, banes,\ndrugs...things that have the potential to be dangerous.\" Misha said as he\nfinished off his own slice of pie. \"We extract many of the components in the\nlab to create antidotes, immunizations, and on occasion, weapons.\"\n   His explanation probably should have\nbothered me, but the warm pie made me feel euphoric. I stared at the fire with\na blank, dazed expression. \"Was the pie drugged?\" I asked after a few moments.\n  \"Not that I know of.\"\nMisha laughed, \"You were probably just really hungry. You haven't eaten for\ndays. I gave you an injection to keep your energy levels high enough while you\nwere in the coma, but you weren't able to eat with the rest of us. Luckily,\nKei's pies are packed with exactly what you should be eating to recover.\"\n  Kei returned from the\ncellar with a small package in her hands, \"Here are the delicates.\" She said as\nshe handed the package to Misha. \"You be careful with them. Keep yourself safe.\"\n\n  Misha placed the package\nin his satchel and slung it over his back. \"Of course.\" He said with a nod,\n\"Thank you Kei. Decipher and I need to get back for dinner with the rest of our\nparty. It was lovely seeing you again.\"\n  \"And thank you for the\npie.\" I added. \n  Kei laughed and wrapped\nher arms around me. I jumped at the gesture, but returned her hug. She embraced\nMisha next. \"Always a pleasure. Keep in touch!\"\n  The warmth of Kei and\nher home stayed with me as we travelled back to the forge. I wished we could\nhave spent more time getting to know her; she seemed like a woman that was full\nof amazing stories. She also hadn't seemed to judge me at all, she hardly even\nasked about me. \n  By the time we made it\nto the forge the sky was black and the stars and moon were casting silver light\non the landscape.\n  \"There you are!\" The man\nbellowed, holding up my dagger. He had crafted a brass handle that twisted like\na unicorn's horn. The brass was etched with silver markings that danced in the\ncurves of the twisted shape. \n  \"I hope you don't mind.\"\nThe man said as he handed me the dagger, \"It felt right.\" \n   \"Not at all. It looks beautiful.\" I said. I\ndug in my bag and pulled out eleven pieces of gold, one to tip the man. The\nwork he had done had surpassed my expectations, but I suppose I should've\nexpected something like this from a professional blacksmith.\n  \"Pleasure doing business\nwith you.\" He said with a grin as we walked off. I continued to examine his\ncraftsmanship on the hilt.\n  \"So you like it?\" Misha\nasked. \n   \"I\nfigured that was clear.\" I teased. \n  We continued to walk\ndown the brick path. The town was dark now and people had begun to settle down.\n  I heard footsteps\ntrailing behind us and quickly turned to see Sheila running at Misha and I.\n\"Kato is in trouble!\" She shouted.\n  She reached us, panting\nheavily and with a worried expression. \"Kato and I were in the woods when a werewolf\nattacked us, neither of us had any silver.\" She gasped for air, \"It's not even\na full moon! Come on!\"\n  I didn't think. I\nfollowed Sheila blindly. Misha yelled out to me but I didn't listen. He trailed\nbehind us as we ran. I felt like this was a chase. \n  Sheila led us through a\nwinding forest trail. As we ran I became aware of the fact that Kato was not\nhere. We stopped dead at an area where the trail opened up to a crossroads. I\ninstantly knew it had been a trap, but part of me was excited. \n  I turned to Misha. I\nfelt sick once I realized he had followed me here. I shouldn't have let him,\nbut I didn't have time to think...I snapped my attention back to Sheila, who was\nlaughing at us. \n  She charged at me and\nbegan to slash at me with her dagger. \"It took you long enough to get yourself\na weapon!\" She yelled as I dodged her slashing. \"Why don't you test it out?\" \n  I kept my eyes on her,\nmoving slowly and observing her every movement. I felt like a fool for letting\nmy guard down, but deep down I knew that I had wandered into her trap knowingly.\nI was eager to take care of this problem. I tossed my bag aside, along with my\ndagger. I knew more about fighting with my own body than I did weapons,\nanyways. \n  I snarled at her, \"I'm\nglad we could take care of this tonight.\" \n  She smirked, \"I can't believe\nyou fell for it. Maybe you knew?\" She said as she paused for a moment, standing\nup straight and circling towards Misha. \"Are you going to fight me, or just hop\naround while I swing at you? If you don't start fighting, I'll just toss this\nknife at your less experienced lover over there.\" \n  I thought back to my\nassignment...it suggested I make her blind with rage. My heart raced as I picked\nthrough my thoughts. What could I say to make her angry?\n  \"How are you going to\nexplain our deaths to Doctor Hale?\" I asked with feigned confidence.\n  She laughed, \"I'll think\nof something. How would you explain my death? They would punish you, you know.\"\n\n   \"Actually, Sheila.\" I said,\nnarrowing my eyes, \"You have become disposable. Of course I knew you were\nplanning on attacking me...but I had to get my assignment done.\"\n  Her expression changed\nfrom amused to angry. She was struggling with the thought. \"You honestly think\nHale wants you working for him, dog?\" She spat. \n  I took my chance and\nlunged at her. She tossed her knife as I slammed her against a tree. I watched\nthe knife land in Misha's shoulder, who cried out in pain from across our\nbattlefield.  \n  When I turned back to\nSheila, she was slicing another knife across my arm. I jerked away as the\nstinging pain slowly crept through my muscles. She escaped my grip and jumped\nup, ready to strike again. I began to feel shaky. Misha was bleeding heavily; I\ncould smell it. I had to stay focused on Sheila, though. I can't afford to panic.\n  \"It's true! Doctor Hale\nordered me to kill you!\" I yelled. Sheila prepared to strike at me again. At least\nshe was getting angry. \n  I lunged at her. I felt\nmy muscles changing as I moved towards her. My shadow resembled the werewolf\nwho's DNA I had originally copied. I let out a bloodthirsty roar as I slashed\ninto her thigh with my claws. \n  \"They don't need you anymore.\"\nI hissed. \"Your emotions make you weak.\"  \n  She jumped and kicked me\nin the side of the head while lacerating my arm again with her knife. I\nsnatched her leg in my jaw and bit down as hard as I could. Sheila shrieked in\npain and jabbed her knife straight into my side. I did my best to hold on to\nher leg, savoring the blood that trickled into my mouth. She twisted the knife,\nand the pain forced me to let go. I collapsed. Luckily, I fell on top of her\nand prevented her from jumping away.\n  I slammed her wrist down\non the ground and her knife went flying. She stared up at my snarling face as I\npinned her down. She looked terrified, and I enjoyed the moment. I pressed my\nmassive paw down on her chest. She began to cough and struggle weakly. \n  \"Fuck...you.\" She said as\nshe choked on her own blood, \"I hope you die and leave Misha as empty as he\nleft me.\" \n  That was enough. I\ncrushed her ribs with one swift punch of my paw, and tore her chest right open.\nMy clawed hands snagged on her ribs and snapped them apart. My mouth dug inside\nher open body and ripped her heart from her core. I let out a triumphant,\ngrowling howl as her body became motionless below me.\n  I stood, hunched forward\non my digitigrade legs like the monster I had become. I spit her heart out and\nlicked the blood from my lips. The adrenaline began to fade, and I remembered\nMisha. \n  Nearly collapsing from\npain, I rushed over to Misha while I was still built like a werewolf. He was\nholding onto the knife embedded in his shoulder and shaking. I tried to grab\nthe dagger, but my hands had become awkward, large paws that couldn't grasp\nthings as well as before. \n  I closed my eyes and\nfocused on returned to my original form; I needed to get Misha out of here. My\nstab wound throbbed with pain, and I could feel blood gushing out of the side of\nme. My entire left side was cramping with pain, and was dyed red. I had lost\ntoo much blood already; we needed to get out of here. Misha opened his eyes and\nwatched me just as my hand began to morph. His glossy eyes became wide as I\nchanged back into my more humanoid shape. \n  After I was done\ntransforming, I ripped the dagger out of Misha's shoulder and helped him up. I\nwas able to focus enough energy into my stab wound to stop it from squirting\nblood out, but it still leaked and sent pain through my body. Misha's wound\nleaked blood, but not nearly as much as mine did. I handed Misha our bags and\ndragged him forward.\n  \"Come on...\" I said\nweakly. I was feeling dizzy, and he wasn't responding. \n  The silence of the\nscene offered me nothing but panic. I stared out to where Sheila's massacred\nbody sat in the center of the crossroads, illustrating our struggle in dark\nrivers that flowed from her lifeless figure. Even in the faint, silver\nmoonlight I could see the glistening crimson.\n  \"Decipher...\" Misha was\nlooking at the morbid scene as well.\n  He was afraid of me; I\ncould feel it. I closed my eyes as we limped forward and tried to ignore the\nfact that he had probably seen everything that had just happened. I didn't have\nthe energy to be worried about that right now. I did my job, and I felt no\nremorse.\n  I tore off what was\nleft of my shirt and Misha held it up to his shoulder as we quickly staggered\nback into town. \n  Eventually we made it\nback into town. The streets were mostly empty except for a few people. I would\nhave cried out for help, but I noticed someone running at us before I could. \n  Caliber approached us,\n\"Shit! What's going on?\" He asked, \"Kato sent me to check up on you guys. He\nhad a feeling Sheila would do this.\"\n  Caliber helped support\nme as I staggered forward. \"We need to get Misha back.\" I coughed. Between the\nmorph and the blood loss, my energy was spent, and my legs were going to give\nout any second. The blood had begun to dry and cake onto my fur, making walking\neven more uncomfortable.\n   \"Fuck,\nDecipher!\" Caliber said, \"Misha will be fine, you on the other hand...\"\n   Misha was still silent. I assumed\nhe was in shock. I had prepared myself for this, and I had known it was coming.\nMisha on the other hand had just witnessed me brutally murder someone. I don't\nthink anything could have prepared him for that...He had only ever been aware of\nmy gentle side. I felt a bit ashamed that he had to see this side of me.\n  Everything was hazy as\nCaliber helped me back to the tavern. At some point, Kato joined us and began\nto help support me as well. They both kept calling out to me.\n  \"Decipher! Hey...\" \n  \"Come on Decipher, stay\nwith us.\"\n  \"Misha's in shock...he\nwon't speak...\"\n  \"Make sure he doesn't lose\nhis bag!\" \n  All the voices danced\naround in my mind. My vision began to blur as I stared at Misha's horrified\nface. \n  We entered the tavern,\nand Kato and Caliber picked me up completely and carried me up the stairs. I\nsaw the blurred shape of Misha following slowly behind us. As soon as they laid\nme down on the bed I let myself pass out. I had done all that I could, and my\nbody demanded rest.  ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/565836-skyfall-chapter-12.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/566234-skyfall-chapter-14.json"}