The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) (11 page)

Isa was just as proficient a killer as any I’d met.  The Orcs never stood a chance from our tag team assault.  The best part?  I hadn’t needed to transform to end this little patrol’s nefarious deeds.  A few well-placed slices with Pan’s silver knife, and the task was done.  Isa had gone full vamp on ‘em and let me tell you how scary that was.

When she removed her fangs from the last remaining Orc’s neck, the thick greenish blood was running down her face.  “Not as good as human, or even animal, but it’ll do the trick.”

It was hard to watch.  “That looks just awful.  You must got an iron gut or something.”

She hefted the Orc to the ground like he weighed nothing.  “If I were you wolf, I’d cut and clean some of the meat from him.  It’s been a few days since you last ate anything and you’re looking a bit thin.  That boar meat you devoured isn’t going to keep you going forever.”

I felt odd taking dietary advice from a lady who just drank from an Orc, but who was I to turn down a valid opinion.  It didn’t take long though for me to get overwhelmed by the rancid smell from inside these things.  I cut off just enough to hopefully keep me upright before abandoning the task.

As we began our trek back to her hideout, “That’s the third patrol we’ve put down in as many days.  The Orcs are getting restless.”

“Yes, something has them wound up and I think it’s you.”  The little pixie vampire moved like a damn ballerina through the forest, often times leaving me a few steps behind tangled up.  “Would you please not plod around with so much gusto?  It’s a damn miracle those wolves haven’t found us yet.”

Just as she said it, I got tangled in some more vines.  Using what strength I could muster, I ripped them down making all sorts of racket.  “The sooner they find us, the better.  I’m tired of picking off these small groups.”

I was expecting an argument, but instead I got an agreement.  “I am too.  Killing Orcs is fun, but not nearly as satisfying as drinking from the Orc Chief.  Without him, Pan will be left to our mercy.”

That was the hope, at least mine privately.  By the time we got back, I was pretty tuckered out, from lack of eating I think.  I roasted up some ‘tasty’ Orc strips and forced myself to eat ‘em.  They tasted like chewy globs of bacon fat.  It wasn’t five-star dining by any means, but after a few strips, I could feel a difference.

“I’m going to take a nap if you don’t mind.”

Isa really paid no attention to me when we weren’t out on our Orc hunts.  She looked over to acknowledge and went back to sharpening her vast array of crude weapons.  I leaned up against the wooden corner of the treehouse, where the wind was most prevalent and drifted off.

Sleep had been more restless lately.  Each time I dozed off since I got here, I felt like something was trying to make contact with me.  This time, it was successful.

I knew I was asleep, but in my mind, I was fully aware.  A shining white light pulsed in front of me; Oberon’s curse.  “You have become the Warg’s host.”

“Welcome back to the party.  I’m glad you’re keeping track of things tucked down here nicely.”

It went from white to grey, back to white.  “The vampire’s curse was more powerful than I expected.  It is a shame I can do nothing more for you than what I have provided.”

“You reached out to me to say sorry?  Can’t do no more to help?”  I might’ve been a bit sarcastic with this thing inside me.  “Sorry, I ain’t buying that.”

“It takes much for us to meet in such ways and the less we do, the better.  Today, I came to you to offer a warning.”

I swatted at the curse, like an annoying fly.  “What the hell kinda warning can you give me?”

“The vampire’s curse, I sense the-” Whatever it was going to say, I wouldn’t get to hear.  Something pulled me back to the present.  My eyes opened to see Isa way too close for comfort.

I tried to back up only to bang my head against the wooden sides of the treehouse.  “Shit!  Damnit woman, what’re you doing so close to me?”

“You were moaning and groaning in your sleep.  I wanted to make sure you were still alive.”  She looked down and called out, “Marko, he’s alive.”

I heard a loud grunt below.  The blasted thing was so loud it shook the tree.  “And you complain about the noise I make.”

“Unlike you, Marko can defend himself against the hostilities of Neverland.  If something is stupid enough to charge after a forest troll, then they deserve the swift death that comes with it.”

“When we go after the Orcs, why doesn’t he come along?  I’d imagine that’d make our jobs easier and safer?”

She rushed over and covered my mouth with her hand.  “Don’t ever ask him to help us kill the Orcs, do you understand?”  She looked positively possessed.  Realizing I was freaked out, “Marko lived with the Orcs before I befriended him.  He saved me, but at the cost of his place in their tribe.”

“Oh.”  Another outcast, that I could relate to.  “I think I understand.”

“He’ll protect me and by extension you, but don’t think for a minute about asking him to go to war with his former family.  I could never do that to him.”

That worked for me.  I shook the cobwebs out, still disappointed that I hadn’t heard the end of the message.  As I stretched out, I wondered about telling her about the talking curses, but chalked it up to her thinking I was insane.  I needed her to keep helping me if I was going to accomplish what me and the Sphinx came here to do.

I saw on the table a crude carving.  “What’s that?”

“This is a poorly drawn map of Neverland.  If we’re going to put an end to the Orcs and Pan, we’ll need to get you sorta caught up on the lay of the land cowboy.”

The way she called me cowboy… Jeez at every corner I was being reminded of Liz.  I wondered how she was holding up.  Hopefully better than me.

She carved an X in the middle of the drawing (and I use that term loosely).  “From my time on the island, I know this to be the place where the wyrm goes back to.  The fastest and easiest path back to Pan will take us right by its home.”

That last thing I wanted to do was willingly get close to that beast.  “There isn’t a better way?  I mean, if we have to go around the long way, ain’t that better than walking to our doom?”

“Sure, if you want to stick around this place longer than needed, by all means slink around the island.”  Her voice went cold.  “It’s not like there aren’t a million things ready to kill you.  Or option B is to grow a pair and follow my lead.”

“Just how long have you been stuck on this island?”

“Like I said before, for too damn long.  To be honest, I don’t even know what’s out there for me off this place, but I’m willing to find out.”

There was something bothering me, like a fly you want to smack but is constantly out of your eye line.  You know he’s there, but you can’t find him.  That’s exactly the sensation I had right now.  It was something I’d be keeping an eye on for sure.

That being said, Isa was gearing herself up.  “I’m guessing we’re leaving soon?”

“You’re a smart one.”  She slid two knives into her boots.  “You’ll need these.”  She tossed me a few of her stash.

They weren’t as well made as Pan’s knife, but you could never go wrong with extra blades.  I put them in my pockets, half concerned I’d stab myself.  “We kill the Orc Chief; the wolves will be broken of his control?”

“No Chief, no orders to be given.  It’s a pretty cut and dry solution.”

I grabbed one of the leather satchels and loaded up one of the mason jars of blood.  Isa had done the honors of bleeding out the boar I had for dinner a few days ago.  I figured if I needed to use the Warg, might as well have the necessary payment at hand.  With that, I was ready.

I walked over to the built in ladder and began my descent.  About three quarters of the way down, I was face to face with Marko.  I stopped, out of fear mostly, and the troll inhaled.  The force of the wind nearly pulled me off the tree.

When it stopped, “Honest.  Good.”  His voice was like an earthquake.

I was about to ask what he was talking about when he turned around and stomped off into the trees.  I looked up at Isa, who was giving me an interesting look.  I had a feeling she had the same wonders about me that I had about her.  At the very least, the troll could vouch for me.  I didn’t have anyone to vouch for her.

We’d begun our hike early the next morning.  Neverland seemed to be a lot bigger than I gave it credit for to begin with.  Isa hadn’t wanted to stop for breaks either, but I convinced her we needed to keep fresh.  And the reason we needed to stay fresh?  We were just getting to it.

The smell had been getting stronger as the hours passed.  A strong reptilian smell with lots of blood.  As we approached the wyrm’s home, the ground was stained with blood and bones.  The entire scene was like out of a horror movie.

As we passed the mutilated body of a deer, “Where does this thing sleep?”  I kept my voice down, not sure what kinda hearing the wyrm had.

Isa pointed over to a slope in the landscape.  “It dug out the ground and uses that for shelter.”

I knew it was close, but with a location, I could pinpoint that the wyrm was home.  “Let’s just keep moving and hope for the best.”

So, quietly yet with urgency, we moved like silent thieves in the night.  I continuously looked over my shoulder, just making sure the creature didn’t begin stirring.  What I hadn’t planned for was the wyrm’s smell to cover up the wolves that appeared out of nowhere.

The male Silver bum rushed Isa, knocking her over while Caroline, the female, tackled me to the ground.  Both were in full-fledged werewolf mode and angry.  Snapping jaws and spittle were way too close for comfort.  I tried to push her off of me, but it wasn’t working.  The Silver was too powerful.

Isa, freeing herself from Skylar, switched on the vampire face and attacked.  She seemed okay, which was a whole lot better than my predicament.  The female Silver tried to eat my face off again, but I guided her head into the ground.  She was dazed for a moment, which was all the time I needed.  I pulled out Pan’s knife and got into a defensive position.

She spun around and charged.  I slipped to the side and locked my arm around her head in a headlock.  The powerful wolf wasn’t about to be slowed down, so I dug my heels into the ground.  Our momentum carried us both down and using her weight to my advantage, I flipped her over.  She rolled back to her paws, but stumbled.

I rolled into an attack position, but I didn’t want to kill her.  She was being forced to attack by Pan and the Chief.  I was hoping we could just knock ‘em around a few times and they’d leave.  I gave a quick glance over to Isa and the Alpha Silver was pressing the attack.  She looked like she might be in over her head.

Caroline was back up and baring her teeth.  A stupid plan formed in my mind and I started running over to the other fight.  She gave chase, just as I hoped for, and I went straight for the big Alpha.  At the last minute, I ducked, hearing Caroline jumping for me.  She went over my head and her tackle attack hit Skylar, knocking him away from Isa.

As the two wolves tumbled away, I grabbed her.  “C’mon, let’s go!”  She looked as if she wanted to keep fighting, but as I started to run away, the ground shook, sending the two of us into a heap.  Over where the wyrm was, it looked as if our little fight woke it up.

Its large head appeared over the ground, black eyes looking at all four tiny specs of food.  The two Silvers jetted into the forest, leaving Isa and I was the closest food sources around.  With its mind made up, it let out its battle cry and began climbing over the dirt.

We got to our feet and took off.  Isa streaked into the lead, but I wasn’t far behind.  Between the smell, the noises, and the tremors that its running caused, I didn’t need to turn around to see how close it was.  Plus, I’d probably just lose it and turn into a McVic nugget in to time flat.  So the best option was to keep on running.

Up ahead of us was a river.  Isa pushed down ever harder and as she reached the shoreline jumped to the other side.  Me, I didn’t have those kinda ups, so I did the next best thing.  I leapt in as far as I could go, hoping the Wyrm couldn’t swim.

The cold water hit me hard, the current moving way too fast for me to keep up.  Waves of water pounded into my face as I tried to right myself, but it wasn’t happening.  Each time I thought I had an opportunity to get control, the current took it right back.  I was at the mercy of the water.

My roller-coaster ride only ended due to a miracle.  Something in the water bumped into my hand which guided me towards the shore.  The fast moving water ejected me into a rough patch of rocks, shredding my clothes and my skin.  I was alive, but I wasn’t in good shape.  Just lying there, I could feel blood flowing from quite a few cuts.

On top of that, I couldn’t stop coughing; expelling all the water I swallowed.  I figured between the noise and the scent of blood, just about every predator in the forest would find me soon.  Part of me wanted to try and fight, but I knew I just didn’t have it in me.  The best I could do was hope it was a quick and painless death.

“Vic,” I heard my name over the rustling of plants over the shoreline.  “Holy shit!  You’re a freaking mess!”  Isa, the little pixie vampire hopped down to where I was and rolled me over.  “We need to get these cuts tended to, or you’ll bleed out.”

I felt the little vampire pick me up and carry me up to the grassy spot.  “You came back for me.”  It wasn’t really a question, but it almost sounded like one.

“Of course I did you fool.  Why didn’t you transform into the Warg and jump the river?”

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.  “I thought I could swim for it.”  Which I failed at obviously.  “Did we lose the wyrm?”

She nodded while ripping the sleeves off her shirt and tending to my wounds.  “All the creatures on Neverland know not to mess with that river, the current’s too strong.”  Then she smiled, which I can’t say I’d seen before from her.  “All except you that is.”

“I’m known for many things, but some would argue brains ain’t among ‘em.”  I winced as she put pressure on one on the deeper cuts.  “I appreciate you not letting me become food for the forest critters.”

“I need you to be a distraction for the Orcs.  Hopefully you’re better at that than you are swimming.”

“That was a bit unnecessary.  I’m a damn good swimmer I’ll have you know.”  Though lately my experiences with rivers weren’t adding up in my favor.  “What’s the prognosis doctor?”

“The bleeding’s stopped and your body seems to have started the healing process, so you’ll be fine.  Unfortunately, we’ll be stuck here awhile.”

She might’ve thought that was bad, but I was quite okay with that.  “I wish I was as disappointed as you are.”

She gave me a look of disdain.  “Werewolves tend to be lazy don’t they?”

I wish I had a quippy retort ready to fire back, but I didn’t, and that made me sad.  So I just laid there like a lump while she cleaned me up and then started a fire.  It would be about another two hours before I was useful again and I wanted to do something to help out.  “So, what can I do to help?”

“Considering your clothes are a mess, if you could get a boar or a deer, I could at least patch them up for you.”  Then she noticed my satchel was gone.  “Plus it appears you lost all your supplies, so we’ll need to restock.”

I got up and felt a few twinges, but went off into the woods.  I needed some time away and hunting close by was the perfect idea.  It didn’t take me very long to put my senses to work and find a deer.  I still had Pan’s knife and used it to quickly and painlessly finish the hunt.  Taking an innocent animal’s life, even for your own gain, was not to be done lightly.

Picking the creature up and lifting it over my shoulder was a bit of a struggle, but eventually I got it and walked back.  As I got in view of the fire, I dropped the deer down on to the ground.  I looked up, yet there was no Isa to be seen.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and it spun me around.  Lips locked with mine and pulled me into a very deep kiss.  I tried to pull away, yet couldn’t and even eventually gave in to the contact.  A spark hit as the two of us kept going.  There was something so familiar, yet so different about the girl kissing me that I couldn’t help myself.

When we broke apart, “Whoa.”

“I’m sorry Victor, I don’t know why I did that.”

As the fire crackled behind me, “Been a long time without contact I imagine.”

A spiteful look crossed her.  “You have no idea.  When your only friend is a forest troll, you get used to being alone most of the time.”

Her answer hit home with me, even though I hadn’t been nearly as alone as she was.  The bigger question was why I didn’t fight off her advances harder?  “I know werewolves aren’t as long lived as vampires, but we tend to be very social creatures.  Even freaks like me need my pack.”

“You’re not a freak, you’re unique.”

Everything that was happening around the campfire had gone against how she’d been acting up until this point.  “Is everything okay?  You don’t seem like you.  Not that I actually know you very well, but you get what I mean right?”

“Did you prefer me being a rude bitch to you?”  Talk about blunt honesty.  “Or do you prefer the lady who sees someone worth fighting beside and decided to show it?”

I wasn’t the best test taker in my academic life, but I knew a trick question when I heard it.  “I think we’ll go with choice B.  But I think we need to talk about that first.”