{"sf1_id":766580,"sf2_id":null,"title":"A Cardinal Sin","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2913,"posted_at":"2014-10-10T23:23:00.000Z","tags":["Feral","Human","Leonardo Da Vinci","Plot Development","Story Progression","Transformation","Weapons","Werewolf","armor","battle","silver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/766580-a-cardinal-sin","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/766580","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=766580\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#50 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nSorry if the editing is a little lax.","content":"                Her\ndress spilt into its component pieces as Maggie morphed into the deadliest\nthing her psyche could come up with. She raced to the man grasping the sword,\nwho let go of it, leaving it behind as the impaled man dropped to the ground.\nIn the hands of this attacker sprung forth two daggers. His black cloak slipped\naside, revealing the highly polished armor underneath.\n                Maggie\nwas blinded by rage, but she still had her uncanny senses. She figured that\nsilver was involved, and while in mid leap, she tucked and rolled to land on\nthe other side of him. Her nose came away with a scent she had hoped not to\nencounter again. Cardinal Medici.\n                \"Hello\nlittle bitch. I suppose you thought you were so smart, revealing my league to\nthe pope. It hardly matters. We haven't found another ring for decades before\nBernard found you and yours. It seems to me that I have been wasting my time\nsitting down in my safe little chambers waiting for something to happen. So I\nthank you for ridding me of my slothfulness.\"\n                Maggie\nwas too angry to speak. The rage was building inside her second by second. She\nwas no fool, however, and she knew quite well she was no match for his armor\nand weapons. He might look old, but she instinctively knew that he was\ndangerous. And she could also see a ring on his finger. It was obviously why he\ncould wear the silver armor.\n                She\ntook to pacing around him, moving ever faster. With each circuit she grew\nsmaller, allowing her to be more mobile and agile. Her pace quickened until she\ncould tell he was dizzy from trying to keep his back from being exposed. She\nsuddenly slammed on the brakes and leaped at his head, raking his face with her\nclaws.\n                He\nscreeched. \"You little bitch!\" But within seconds his face was healing. \n                \"I will\nkill you painfully for that indignity. Once I have your ring, I'll fill you\nfull of silver and watch you burn!\"\n                She\nspread her front paws. \"I have on no ring you sniveling little boy-banger. If\nyou're going to make a threat, have the balls to back it up.\"\n                He\nlooked carefully and stopped. \"No ring? What have you done with the ring? This\nman doesn't wear it. And where are my boxes?\"\n                \"Go to\nhell you fucking asshole!\" she growled back.\n                \"I very\nlikely will, in the end. But if I have more of the rings, you little whore,\nthen I can postpone that day for many, many years. Now tell me where they are\nat, or I will kill this putrid man you have the nerve to call your father.\"\n                That\nmade her pause. Kill him? She looked down. Indeed, if the sword had been\nsilver, he would have turned into a crisp by now. But he looked very much dead.\nAs she focused on this body, she sensed no odor of blood in the air. So he was,\nat this exact moment, neither dead nor alive, but at least not destroyed. Yet,\nwithout his ring on, he was very much incapacitated. It was probably impossible\nto heal with that thing skewering him as it was. \n                She\nwould have to try and lead the cardinal far enough away to dash back and yank\nit out. She felt like she could take this guy, but she was wisely assessing the\nsituation second by second, and she knew that right now, the more help she had on\nher side the merrier. She simply had no way of getting their attention right\nnow.\n                That\nthought and that thought alone only steeled her resolve. It was her fault in\nassuming the cardinal was going to be put out of commission by a mere\nbureaucracy. She should never have made such a foolish assumption. He was a\nwerewolf after all, and quite capable of trailing them wherever they went. It\nwas quite possible, in fact, that he had only just arrived, coinciding with\ntheir return from downriver. The chances were pretty good he didn't even know\nthere was help to be had.\n                So then\nit was going to come down to making a lot of racket. If she could get this\nbattle heated up and noisy, maybe someone, anyone might give notice. The\nproblem was, the parking lot was close to the river, and away from the shops.\nWhat could she do to get people to notice?\n                Noise.\n                She\nbulked up a little more and ran straight for the cars. One after another, she\ndived onto their hoods, shaking them until the alarms went off. She spared the\npoor little Alfa, knowing full well it didn't have one. And if Edward survived,\nhe might appreciate her gesture.  Soon\nthe entire lot was blaring and lights blinking, turning it into an impromptu\nflash mob.\n                The\nlights were blazing off of the fortress walls, and the echoing blare of a\nmultitude of horns provided the cacophony she needed. It was, at present,\nenough to at least distract the cardinal with the barrage of sound and light.\nTo her, this noise was just a rave party.\n                Sure\nenough, the disturbance attracted attention. Not a single person who arrived could\nmake out exactly what was going on exactly. From all appearances, there was a\nmedieval knight locked in battle with a horrific wolf. But everyone knew the\nreenacting was over for the day. So why the hell was this going on and why now,\nso late in the day?\n                That\nwas when three more wolves appeared from the direction of the city, and people,\nleastwise those wise enough, fled back the way they had come. Whatever was\ngoing on, they wanted no part in it. That left a few fools and the perpetually\nignorant remaining on the scene. In this case luck favored the foolish, and\nthey were granted a sight unlike any ever witnessed for hundreds of years.\n                Two of wolves\nwere nearly identical, but the third newcomer was all gray and much more\nmassive. His eyes were glowing like smoldering coals, much like Maggie's were\nat this exact moment.  He stopped just\nshort of the cardinal, glancing at the lifeless form of Edward's body. With the\ncardinal distracted, Maggie made a swipe to remove the sword, but Leonardo\nkicked her away. His voice was like molten iron they way it flowed out of his\nmouth.\n                \"Don't\nyou dare touch it!\"\n                In her\nheart, her anger knew no bounds at his words, but since it was the master who\nbid her to stop, she acquiesced. But he had better have a damn good reason! She\nreturned her attention to the cardinal. \n                He had\ndropped his cloak, showing off his armor and weapons. Leonardo sunk his teeth\ninto Maggie's tail and dragged her back. \"Don't get near him. Without a ring you'll\nbe dead before the moon rises. \"   \n                She\nsuffered through his restraint about as well as could be expected. She snapped\nat him and turned to pace around the cardinal. The twins took up a similar stance,\ncarefully keeping their distance and not getting too close to him. They had\nlittle experience with silver, or attacking something that was bigger and more\npowerful than they were. But like Maggie, they were very much put out by the\nbody laying there, impaled by a sword. They had killed before but never out of\nanger, or hatred, or spite; they had only ever killed to survive. They were\ngoing to learn that survival took many forms.\n                Cardinal\nMedici was sizing up his new adversaries. \"So you have managed to find some\nallies I see. How fortuitous for you. Two of them appear to be nearly as young\nand stupid as yourself, and the old one has at least the semblance of wisdom on\nhis side. Perhaps he could be persuaded to see on the side of reason?\" It was a\nquestion directed at the old master.\n                \"I am\nalways one to side with reason. What have you to say to me that might convince\nme that you are nothing more than a murderous rogue?\" asked the master, quite\nhotly.\n                \"I am\nCardinal Antonia Alessandro Medici. I, by right of my family name, claim the\nrings that were made by Leonardo da Vinci as my own.\"\n                \"Do you\nnow, upstart? What makes you think you have the claim over any ring but one?\"\n                \"Because\nmy family commissioned them, that's why!\"\n                Leonardo\ntransformed back to his human looking self. His beard and hair had grown back\nbecause of his abrupt transformation. Despite being nude, he still cut a\ncommanding figure. \"The Medici family commissioned one ring. I made ten. Since\nyou have one on your finger, I see no reason why you would need more.\"\n                \"You\nact as if...you....know...personally...\" The cardinal paused. \"You can't possibly be...\"\n                \"I am\nwho I am, regardless of your weak-minded assessment. And I know that you wear\none ring of ten, and that wearing anymore than that will do you no good. You\ncan either be satisfied with what you have, or you can persist and risk losing\neverything. I have seen greed eat up men greater than you could ever dream of\nbecoming.\"\n                But the\ncardinal was now intensely scrutinizing the old man. \"We are in Amboise. That\ncan be no coincidence. But it is impossible. You died five centuries ago!\"\n                \"I was\nmerely laid to rest, and I rested for a good long time. I thought that maybe I\nwas awakened to no good purpose, but I am beginning to see that maybe the fates\nhave something more in store for me than I was first able to comprehend. Yes, I\nam Leonardo, of the village of Vinci. And yes, I am personally acquainted with\nthe rings because I helped to make them. And when I tell you that you have\nrights to only one, I think I know what I am saying.\"\n                The\ncardinal let down his guard momentarily. But he was still watching the youngsters\nas they paced him, a few yards out. He focused on the old man's hands. He let\nout a cry when he saw the ring there. \"So you intend to take the rings for\nyourself then! I see where the missing ring has gone! You have stolen it!\"\n                \"You\nare a fool and no credit to your name. I cannot steal what is already mine. And\nif I wanted more, al I would have to do is ask.\"\n                \"Ask?\nYou mean this fool gave you his ring?\"\n                Leonardo\nwas getting exasperated. \"He did and yet I gave it back. As I did with the\nyoung lady's ring.\"\n                \"Wait.\nWhat? Two rings?\" He eyes narrowed. \"You opened one of my boxes didn't you?\"\n                Maggie\nsat down and did a little dog laugh, with her tongue hanging out. It made him\nfurious.\n                He\nwhipped around to Leonardo. \"You opened the boxes?\"\n                \"I\nopened one. It was empty. Of the other boxes, they opened one and the other\ncannot be opened except under very special circumstances. I assume your ring\nwas in the empty one?\"\n                The\ncardinal was absorbing all this as best he could. \"No. Mine was...never mind\nwhere mine came from. One box was empty. Then the chance of getting all ten is\nnearly impossible.\"\n                \"Like I\nsaid, having more than one ring would not really help you.\"\n                Maggie\nsensed a lie. But what did it matter, if all the rings weren't able to be found\nto be brought together?\n                \"I do\nnot believe you old man, even if you do happen to be Leonardo da Vinci. The\nfamily secret says that they will make one of the Kind invincible for\neternity!\"\n                The\nmaster laughed. \"And how would anyone know? No one has ever had all the rings\ntogether long enough to test that hypothesis out. Eternity is a long, long\ntime.  And no one, not you and not I have\nany right living that long.\"\n                The\ncardinal began sprouting hairs, where his skin was visible. \"Just look at you,\nyou old fool. Look how long you have lived with only the one!\" \n                The\nmaster sighed. \"I survived this long because of my inventive foolishness. I\nextended my life without actually living it. Being frozen in time doesn't\nconstitute living, my overzealous friend.\"\n                \"Regardless\nof your method, I have to assume that you did it with the use of a ring.\"\n                \"In\npart, yes. But not in its entirety. Part of it was how I put my mind to use.\nThere is much to be said for creativity.\"\n                \"Bah! I\ncrave power and longevity, not creativity. What use is that?\"\n                Maggie\nstopped and stared at him, with a look of near pity in her eyes. \"The master is\nremembered to this day for being the most creative person ever. Few today can\ncompare to his brilliance. No one ever says, what a power mad fiend he was.\"\n                \"Shut\nup girl. You are nothing but a syphilitic blight on the face of this planet!\"\n                Her\npity dissolved into the ether. \"I will be a blight on your life, what little of\nit you have left.\"\n                This\nwhole time she had been sizing him up. She had also been quietly warning the\ntwins to stay back. While she was younger than they were, she was also a little\nmore hardened to field combat. After telling them to keep their distance, she\nresumed her position near the cardinal. He hadn't missed her return, keeping\nhis focus between her and the old man.\n                He knew\nwhich of the two was more dangerous.\n                \"I will\nhave my rings! If I must kill you all, then so be it! I have killed for less\nreason than the lofty goal of obtaining my ultimate dream, so killing you will\nbe no crime, as I see it.\"\n                Maggie ran\ncircles around him again, avoiding running into the master as she dashed faster\nand faster. Then, like before, she stopped and his time darted forward, not\nhigh, but low. Leonardo tried to yell for her to stop, but he was too late. A\ndagger came down and slammed into her shoulder. Her momentum carried her a few\nyards away, where she came to a stop.\n                But she\nwasn't down. Her arm twisted around unnaturally as she reached for the dagger.\nShe drew it out and licked the blade before throwing the knife over the wall.\nShe geared up for another pass. Again, the cardinal stabbed at her, and it seemed\nthat she wasn't as fast this time around. The other dagger sunk into her other\nshoulder. She rolled to a stop a few feet away and was motionless.\n                That\nleft the twins, who were still wisely lurking back in the dark, and Leonardo\nwho was trying desperately to defuse the situation. He knew more about the crux\nof this situation, including details on the weapons and armor being worn by\nthis man calling himself Medici. With Edward down, and now Maggie, Leonardo's\nonly defense lay in his ring. And in his words.\n                \"My friend,\nthis is pointless! Having all the rings is a fool's dream. There was a reason I\nsent them to the four corners of the earth when I did.\"\n                \"Yes,\nbecause you didn't want anyone to possess their full power!\"\n                \"No,\nbecause I didn't want anyone to feel like they should even try. What one rings\ndoes ten rings does only just as well.\"\n                \"You\nlie! I have a note written by Cecilia Gallerani that states that the rings\nmultiply the effects and that wearing all ten granted the wearer full invincibility!\"\n                Leonardo\nswore under his breath. \"Did she write such a thing? And how would she have\never known? She was not of the Kind.\"\n                \"But\nshe knew, did she not?\"\n                The\nmaster sighed, remembering her lovely face, and shoulders; her breasts and her...\n\"Yes, we knew each other well. But as for the rings, I do not know how she\nwould ever have come to write such a thing.\"\n                \"But\nyou do not deny that what she says is true, now do you?\"\n                \"What\nwould be the point? I have told you they do not. But without having all of them\ngathered together to test my words, you will never know for certain. Thus we\nare at an impasse.\"\n                \"Correct.\nAnd since I see you have on a ring, I feel that I must relieve you of it. I will\nfind my boxes soon enough, and whether they contain rings or not, I will keep\nthem for my own.\"\n                The master\nsighed. His eyes lit up momentarily. He pulled off his ring. \"If you think that\nthis that important to you, then here, take it.\" Leonardo flipped it through\nthe air. The cardinal stretched out his hand to grab it. At the same instant, a\nset of jaws came down on his wrist, severing the hand from the arm. Blood\nspurted everywhere as his screams filled the night air."}