Unholy Smoke
#51 of The Moonrise Chronicles
Maggie
landed on the ground not far away. She was as torn as the hand in her jaws;
should she eat it to keep it and the ring away from the cardinal? It was an
interesting choice, one she didn't think she would be making right now. She had
noted that the master had seen her recover from the second dagger wound. The
pain from both wounds was greater than any she had ever experienced in her
life. It was like salt and turpentine had been on those blades, but her tasting
of the first one had shown there to be nothing.
The second
blade she had removed and impaled it into the ground for lack of a better
hiding place. The wounds were healing over, yet, despite having both Edward's
and her ring back from the twins, the wounds were being real bitches about closing
up. If the sword in Edward's chest was anything like those daggers, then he might
wish to remain dead. The pain was nearly unbearable.
But the
pain of those wounds was nothing compared to the thought of losing him. Even if
she died, she was determined to take the cardinal down with her. And that was
when she saw the chance. She could always take him down one piece at a time if
she was quick about it. It happened to be dumb luck that his dominant hand also
had his ring on. So now she was collapsed on the ground with the taste of his blood
on her tongue and the sounds of his screams in her ears. There was no better
music to be had at this moment.
Given
enough time, a werewolf could replace even a missing limb, but it was not like
healing a cut or a stab. And with his ring now gone the length of time it would
take would be problematical. His screams subsided as he fought to regain control
of his mind and of the present situation. He had assumed the girl was down for
the count. He had no idea that she had regained the rings when he wasn't
looking.
He was
holding his good paw over the stump. "You little witch! If I could go back in
time I would search for and destroy your predecessors one by one!"
"Good
luck on that, Captain Hook!" Maggie was holding his hand, sans the ring, and
making the lewdest gestures with it.
"Give
me back my hand!" His demand came out as a screech. Worse, he was losing
control over his form. He began bulking out, filling the armor completely. And
that's when the screaming really began.
Without
his ring, he was no longer protected from the effects of the silver alloy
armor. On the inside, his skin was protected by a layer of cloth, but as he
began to burst his seams, his skin came in contact with the metal. Little puffs
of smoke began rising where these contacts were made. Now, instead of
protecting him, it was a death trap.
He had
little choice but to break his way out of it now. It was a difficult task, made
even more tedious with only one hand. Maggie took to harassing him during this
critical time, but he managed to extricate himself. He was covered in burns,
and they weren't healing very rapidly.
At this
point, as the cardinal gathered himself up to attack, two forms came from his
rear. He didn't hear them coming because they had leaped from the top of the
wall. Both hit him hard, driving him to the ground. They wisely bounded off into the night.
Maggie
had moved to where she had stuck the dagger in the ground. She also snagged
Leonardo's ring where it lay, and slipped it up with the rest of them. She did
so with a grim smile. Put the rings where they won't easily get lost or
removed! She now had four rings inside her, and she knew for certain that the
master had been lying. The fact that he had borrowed theirs earlier was
evidence enough. She could feel the difference the extras made. She paused to
wonder at how much power the entire original meteorite might have held!
She was
tempted to try putting on the armor, but decided against it. It had done little
good for the cardinal. But then, she was getting the idea that he rarely used
his feral form. He had been correct in his assessment that he spent too much
time lounging in luxury. Porking little boys' bottoms might be entertaining,
but it didn't keep one's senses sharp and alert.
She
felt more than powerful enough to take him down now, but she was in no hurry.
He had to pay, and pay dearly, for running her father and lover through the
heart. All Edward had wanted was to be able to live out a life in peace. She
had disrupted it so much, but she had found that in the end he didn't mind. But
each day had taken him farther and farther away from his old life. She had
liked the new him, but now her desires had cost him his life. She was hoping
that the master knew something that he wasn't telling her right now. She was
going to be patient just long enough to kill this bastard, and then the old man
had better spill his guts, or she would do it for him.
She
sent out a bone chilling howl that brought back the twins. Leonardo had so far stayed
out of this fight. He didn't like fighting, despite the work he had down during
his heydays in Italy and France. Weapons were always in demand, regardless of
the time period. While he didn't make them per se, he did invent a number of
devices that had no other purpose but to kill people.
That
made Maggie pause and stare at him a moment. What did he know about this armor?
And these weapons? It was apparent that he recognized them from his past. She
was going to be questioning him in no uncertain terms went his was over.
There was,
however, something more important at hand. She smiled. At hand.
She took the hand, rubbed it across her crotch in full view of the cardinal and
then hurled it out into the river. His stump had quit bleeding, but was still
fleshy and raw. He didn't miss the impudence in her actions, but was now more
alert to treachery. He had been long surrounded by flunkies. Being surrounded
by enemies was forcing his feral side out. Ring or no ring, armor or no armor,
a pissed off werewolf was something to contend with.
His
size wasn't as great as Edward's, and his stump was a hindrance, but he was
still pretty dangerous. He had lost everything he had worked for, and he had
lost it to a girl. She would pay with her life. And if he had to kill the old
man, then so be it. But he would either leave here with his rings, or he wouldn't
leave at all. With that last thought his mind was overwhelmed by the bestial
side of his persona. And the beast felt pain and betrayal. He slipped into moderate
madness.
Maggie saw
it coming almost too late. His eyes turned red with a blazing radiance, and his
teeth grew longer and sharper. His speed became blinding. He naturally went for
the weakest one first, and that was Leonardo. Maggie clamped onto the cardinal's
tail and bit hard. It was sufficient to turn his ire back onto her. And that
was just what she wanted. This fight was personal.
No
coward, her decision to run was more to save the lives of all the fools still
hanging about, watching this action like it was some movie being filmed for
future release. She figured a bit of their incoherent actions were alcohol
related, but a good part of it had to be stupidity. Thus, she ran into the
grounds of the chateau, going just fast enough that he couldn't catch her. Once
they were inside, she knew she had to keep him here until she finished him off.
Or he finished off her. Either end seemed acceptable.
She
turned and flew over his head, landing on his back long enough to sink her
claws into him. She was then off like a flash as he screamed and clawed where
she had been. She had wisely kept her smaller form. It was quick and agile, and
while lacking the killing power his had available, she was protected somewhat by
the rings. And she still had the dagger. But to use it, she would either have
to give up her fastest form or try to impale him with it in her mouth, where
the weapon was precariously perched at the moment. That was not a likely
scenario.
She
espied the twins slinking into the compound, and she gave a thankful nod. Her adversary
hardly noticed. His attention was focused on her. But she wasn't so stupid as to
assume his senses were dull. She hoped the siblings were wise enough to wait
until he was completely distracted before attacking.
Emile
was a little hasty, rushing in from the side. The cardinal saw him coming and
stopped him in his tracks with his stump. With his good paw he flung the boy
several hundred yards through the air, where he landed somewhere over the wall
and back in the parking lot. There was a crunch and then the car alarms went
off again. The sound echoed around the compound, and it was soon mixed with
police sirens.
Now it
was down to the girls. Corrine was rather infatuated with Edward, but his death
didn't have the impact it did on Maggie. Still, she didn't like this fellow. He
smelled of dank rooms and his persona dripped with evil. She shuddered, working
up the courage to attack. With her brother gone, so was half of her courage. They
had always worked as a team.
But
something Maggie had told her came into her head. She knew how her brother
reacted to things, and it was probably the same for this guy, but she tried it
anyway. She ran towards him, making sure he could see her, and pivoting on her
front legs, swung her ass around. Tail held high, she sprayed him with urine
and ran back into the shadows.
It didn't
work as planned, but it did blind him temporarily and enraged him even further.
Maggie grinned evilly at his present predicament. Then she dashed forward and
clamped her teeth on his testicles. They came off easier than his hand had. Her
nose got an overload of testosterone as her eardrums ruptured under the
pressure of his roar.
She
barely heard the gunshots as the local police stormed into the compound and
began firing indiscriminately. They had no idea what they were shooting at, and
since the compound wasn't lit by any more the moon and star light, it made for
instant chaos. Maggie spit the hairy werewolf scrotum onto the ground and made
another feint to attack.
She had
to focus with her eyes and her nose now. Her ears were still ringing like a
church bell. But the cardinal was apparently getting hit with bullets as some
sharpshooter found a target. He missed Corinne coming in from above again, and
she clipped off an ear before retreating into the shadows.
The
bullets suddenly fell silent. Maggie looked towards the gate and saw a lone
figure standing there. She tried to focus on who it was, but had to dodge a
blow from her adversary. Blood was dripping everywhere; from between his legs,
from his scalp, and even from his stump which kept getting broken open. He was
a horrific sight to behold.
Corinne
came in, at the last moment losing her nerve and running back off again. But it
was enough of a distraction that Maggie was able to get in another blow, this
time hamstringing his left leg. He went down and she pounced on him like a buzz
saw. He was no simple adversary though, and he got in two severe bites that
took her out of the game for a few moments. In this case, on both sides, time
was of the essence. Whoever could heal faster would end up being the winner.
That meant Maggie had the advantage.
She sat
and licked her wounds, keeping her eyes on the other. She could sense Corinne
in the distance, and she could hear someone coming up from behind her. But
since whoever they were made little difference to her, she didn't bother to
look. She had her sights set on killing this guy here and now.
As the
flow of blood was staunched, she gathered herself up for another attack. The rings
seemed to be handling his latest attack better than the injuries from the
daggers. There had to be something about those weapons that made them effective
against the kind. She was going to have to get that information out of the
master, assuming she survived the night.
She secretly
wished that the cardinal would grow a new set of balls, so that she could rip
them off again. But she knew better. His body was healing the important,
necessary things first. His testicles weren't
necessary to maintaining his life right now. She wondered if she could gouge
his eyes out. His damaged ear had been more disfiguring than disabling, but the
dripping blood did seem to be hampering his vision.
She tore
up the sod as she launched her next attack, landing squarely on his face. But
he saw her coming and opened his jaws as she landed. He bit down hard, sinking
in his teeth and cracking her ribs. One lung was punctured and blood spilled
around his jaw line as one of her arteries was ruptured.
In the
next instant he let go with a bellow. Maggie had no idea what had happened, and
was only able to watch limply from the ground. Leonardo was standing over the
cardinal. He had brought the breastplate to the armor with him, and had smashed
it down on the cardinal's chest with as much force as he could muster. She
could see the cloth wrapped around his hands as he pressed it down. Smoke began
rising.
Then Emile
came out of nowhere, carrying a huge boulder. He slammed it down on top of the
armor before taking a few swipes at the evil werewolf's head. Then Corrine came
out and they each took an arm, pinning him down as the silver burned its way
through his chest. The smell was
terrible. So were his struggles. His feet came up and raked deep gashes in the
master, who refused to let go of the armor. Maggie dragged herself over to the
fallen dagger, and with what little strength she had left, imbedded deep in his
skull. His struggles stopped. The smoke continued to roil out.
Maggie lost
consciousness and remembered no more.