{"sf1_id":766765,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Unholy Smoke","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2566,"posted_at":"2014-10-11T16:10:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Pain","Plot Development","Story Progression","Transformation","Weapons","Werewolf","armor","battle","injury","silver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/766765-unholy-smoke","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/766765","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=766765\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#51 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Maggie\nlanded on the ground not far away. She was as torn as the hand in her jaws;\nshould she eat it to keep it and the ring away from the cardinal? It was an\ninteresting choice, one she didn't think she would be making right now. She had\nnoted that the master had seen her recover from the second dagger wound. The\npain from both wounds was greater than any she had ever experienced in her\nlife. It was like salt and turpentine had been on those blades, but her tasting\nof the first one had shown there to be nothing.\n                The second\nblade she had removed and impaled it into the ground for lack of a better\nhiding place. The wounds were healing over, yet, despite having both Edward's\nand her ring back from the twins, the wounds were being real bitches about closing\nup. If the sword in Edward's chest was anything like those daggers, then he might\nwish to remain dead. The pain was nearly unbearable.\n                But the\npain of those wounds was nothing compared to the thought of losing him. Even if\nshe died, she was determined to take the cardinal down with her. And that was\nwhen she saw the chance. She could always take him down one piece at a time if\nshe was quick about it. It happened to be dumb luck that his dominant hand also\nhad his ring on. So now she was collapsed on the ground with the taste of his blood\non her tongue and the sounds of his screams in her ears. There was no better\nmusic to be had at this moment.\n                Given\nenough time, a werewolf could replace even a missing limb, but it was not like\nhealing a cut or a stab. And with his ring now gone the length of time it would\ntake would be problematical. His screams subsided as he fought to regain control\nof his mind and of the present situation. He had assumed the girl was down for\nthe count. He had no idea that she had regained the rings when he wasn't\nlooking.\n                He was\nholding his good paw over the stump. \"You little witch! If I could go back in\ntime I would search for and destroy your predecessors one by one!\" \n                \"Good\nluck on that, Captain Hook!\" Maggie was holding his hand, sans the ring, and\nmaking the lewdest gestures with it.\n                \"Give\nme back my hand!\" His demand came out as a screech. Worse, he was losing\ncontrol over his form. He began bulking out, filling the armor completely. And\nthat's when the screaming really began. \n                Without\nhis ring, he was no longer protected from the effects of the silver alloy\narmor. On the inside, his skin was protected by a layer of cloth, but as he\nbegan to burst his seams, his skin came in contact with the metal. Little puffs\nof smoke began rising where these contacts were made. Now, instead of\nprotecting him, it was a death trap.\n                He had\nlittle choice but to break his way out of it now. It was a difficult task, made\neven more tedious with only one hand. Maggie took to harassing him during this\ncritical time, but he managed to extricate himself. He was covered in burns,\nand they weren't healing very rapidly.\n                At this\npoint, as the cardinal gathered himself up to attack, two forms came from his\nrear. He didn't hear them coming because they had leaped from the top of the\nwall. Both hit him hard, driving him to the ground.  They wisely bounded off into the night.\n                Maggie\nhad moved to where she had stuck the dagger in the ground. She also snagged\nLeonardo's ring where it lay, and slipped it up with the rest of them. She did\nso with a grim smile. Put the rings where they won't easily get lost or\nremoved! She now had four rings inside her, and she knew for certain that the\nmaster had been lying. The fact that he had borrowed theirs earlier was\nevidence enough. She could feel the difference the extras made. She paused to\nwonder at how much power the entire original meteorite might have held!\n                She was\ntempted to try putting on the armor, but decided against it. It had done little\ngood for the cardinal. But then, she was getting the idea that he rarely used\nhis feral form. He had been correct in his assessment that he spent too much\ntime lounging in luxury. Porking little boys' bottoms might be entertaining,\nbut it didn't keep one's senses sharp and alert. \n                She\nfelt more than powerful enough to take him down now, but she was in no hurry.\nHe had to pay, and pay dearly, for running her father and lover through the\nheart. All Edward had wanted was to be able to live out a life in peace. She\nhad disrupted it so much, but she had found that in the end he didn't mind. But\neach day had taken him farther and farther away from his old life. She had\nliked the new him, but now her desires had cost him his life. She was hoping\nthat the master knew something that he wasn't telling her right now. She was\ngoing to be patient just long enough to kill this bastard, and then the old man\nhad better spill his guts, or she would do it for him.\n                She\nsent out a bone chilling howl that brought back the twins. Leonardo had so far stayed\nout of this fight. He didn't like fighting, despite the work he had down during\nhis heydays in Italy and France. Weapons were always in demand, regardless of\nthe time period. While he didn't make them per se, he did invent a number of\ndevices that had no other purpose but to kill people.\n                That\nmade Maggie pause and stare at him a moment. What did he know about this armor?\nAnd these weapons? It was apparent that he recognized them from his past. She\nwas going to be questioning him in no uncertain terms went his was over.\n                There was,\nhowever, something more important at hand. She smiled.  At hand.\nShe took the hand, rubbed it across her crotch in full view of the cardinal and\nthen hurled it out into the river. His stump had quit bleeding, but was still\nfleshy and raw. He didn't miss the impudence in her actions, but was now more\nalert to treachery. He had been long surrounded by flunkies. Being surrounded\nby enemies was forcing his feral side out. Ring or no ring, armor or no armor,\na pissed off werewolf was something to contend with.\n                His\nsize wasn't as great as Edward's, and his stump was a hindrance, but he was\nstill pretty dangerous. He had lost everything he had worked for, and he had\nlost it to a girl. She would pay with her life. And if he had to kill the old\nman, then so be it. But he would either leave here with his rings, or he wouldn't\nleave at all. With that last thought his mind was overwhelmed by the bestial\nside of his persona. And the beast felt pain and betrayal. He slipped into moderate\nmadness.\n                Maggie saw\nit coming almost too late. His eyes turned red with a blazing radiance, and his\nteeth grew longer and sharper. His speed became blinding. He naturally went for\nthe weakest one first, and that was Leonardo. Maggie clamped onto the cardinal's\ntail and bit hard. It was sufficient to turn his ire back onto her. And that\nwas just what she wanted. This fight was personal.\n                No\ncoward, her decision to run was more to save the lives of all the fools still\nhanging about, watching this action like it was some movie being filmed for\nfuture release. She figured a bit of their incoherent actions were alcohol\nrelated, but a good part of it had to be stupidity. Thus, she ran into the\ngrounds of the chateau, going just fast enough that he couldn't catch her. Once\nthey were inside, she knew she had to keep him here until she finished him off.\nOr he finished off her. Either end seemed acceptable.\n                She\nturned and flew over his head, landing on his back long enough to sink her\nclaws into him. She was then off like a flash as he screamed and clawed where\nshe had been. She had wisely kept her smaller form. It was quick and agile, and\nwhile lacking the killing power his had available, she was protected somewhat by\nthe rings. And she still had the dagger. But to use it, she would either have\nto give up her fastest form or try to impale him with it in her mouth, where\nthe weapon was precariously perched at the moment. That was not a likely\nscenario.\n                She\nespied the twins slinking into the compound, and she gave a thankful nod. Her adversary\nhardly noticed. His attention was focused on her. But she wasn't so stupid as to\nassume his senses were dull. She hoped the siblings were wise enough to wait\nuntil he was completely distracted before attacking.\n                Emile\nwas a little hasty, rushing in from the side. The cardinal saw him coming and\nstopped him in his tracks with his stump. With his good paw he flung the boy\nseveral hundred yards through the air, where he landed somewhere over the wall\nand back in the parking lot. There was a crunch and then the car alarms went\noff again. The sound echoed around the compound, and it was soon mixed with\npolice sirens.\n                Now it\nwas down to the girls. Corrine was rather infatuated with Edward, but his death\ndidn't have the impact it did on Maggie. Still, she didn't like this fellow. He\nsmelled of dank rooms and his persona dripped with evil. She shuddered, working\nup the courage to attack. With her brother gone, so was half of her courage. They\nhad always worked as a team.\n                But\nsomething Maggie had told her came into her head. She knew how her brother\nreacted to things, and it was probably the same for this guy, but she tried it\nanyway. She ran towards him, making sure he could see her, and pivoting on her\nfront legs, swung her ass around. Tail held high, she sprayed him with urine\nand ran back into the shadows.\n                It didn't\nwork as planned, but it did blind him temporarily and enraged him even further.\nMaggie grinned evilly at his present predicament. Then she dashed forward and\nclamped her teeth on his testicles. They came off easier than his hand had. Her\nnose got an overload of testosterone as her eardrums ruptured under the\npressure of his roar.\n                She\nbarely heard the gunshots as the local police stormed into the compound and\nbegan firing indiscriminately. They had no idea what they were shooting at, and\nsince the compound wasn't lit by any more the moon and star light, it made for\ninstant chaos. Maggie spit the hairy werewolf scrotum onto the ground and made\nanother feint to attack.\n                She had\nto focus with her eyes and her nose now. Her ears were still ringing like a\nchurch bell. But the cardinal was apparently getting hit with bullets as some\nsharpshooter found a target. He missed Corinne coming in from above again, and\nshe clipped off an ear before retreating into the shadows.\n                The\nbullets suddenly fell silent. Maggie looked towards the gate and saw a lone\nfigure standing there. She tried to focus on who it was, but had to dodge a\nblow from her adversary. Blood was dripping everywhere; from between his legs,\nfrom his scalp, and even from his stump which kept getting broken open. He was\na horrific sight to behold.\n                Corinne\ncame in, at the last moment losing her nerve and running back off again. But it\nwas enough of a distraction that Maggie was able to get in another blow, this\ntime hamstringing his left leg. He went down and she pounced on him like a buzz\nsaw. He was no simple adversary though, and he got in two severe bites that\ntook her out of the game for a few moments. In this case, on both sides, time\nwas of the essence. Whoever could heal faster would end up being the winner.\nThat meant Maggie had the advantage.\n                She sat\nand licked her wounds, keeping her eyes on the other. She could sense Corinne\nin the distance, and she could hear someone coming up from behind her. But\nsince whoever they were made little difference to her, she didn't bother to\nlook. She had her sights set on killing this guy here and now.\n                As the\nflow of blood was staunched, she gathered herself up for another attack. The rings\nseemed to be handling his latest attack better than the injuries from the\ndaggers. There had to be something about those weapons that made them effective\nagainst the kind. She was going to have to get that information out of the\nmaster, assuming she survived the night.\n                She secretly\nwished that the cardinal would grow a new set of balls, so that she could rip\nthem off again. But she knew better. His body was healing the important,\nnecessary things first.  His testicles weren't\nnecessary to maintaining his life right now. She wondered if she could gouge\nhis eyes out. His damaged ear had been more disfiguring than disabling, but the\ndripping blood did seem to be hampering his vision.\n                She tore\nup the sod as she launched her next attack, landing squarely on his face. But\nhe saw her coming and opened his jaws as she landed. He bit down hard, sinking\nin his teeth and cracking her ribs. One lung was punctured and blood spilled\naround his jaw line as one of her arteries was ruptured.\n                In the\nnext instant he let go with a bellow. Maggie had no idea what had happened, and\nwas only able to watch limply from the ground. Leonardo was standing over the\ncardinal. He had brought the breastplate to the armor with him, and had smashed\nit down on the cardinal's chest with as much force as he could muster. She\ncould see the cloth wrapped around his hands as he pressed it down. Smoke began\nrising.\n                Then Emile\ncame out of nowhere, carrying a huge boulder. He slammed it down on top of the\narmor before taking a few swipes at the evil werewolf's head. Then Corrine came\nout and they each took an arm, pinning him down as the silver burned its way\nthrough his chest.  The smell was\nterrible. So were his struggles. His feet came up and raked deep gashes in the\nmaster, who refused to let go of the armor. Maggie dragged herself over to the\nfallen dagger, and with what little strength she had left, imbedded deep in his\nskull. His struggles stopped. The smoke continued to roil out.\n                Maggie lost\nconsciousness and remembered no more."}