Authors: Laszlo,Jeremy
Passing the guards, beneath the portcullis, Seth found himself facing another possible quandary. Word had spread of Seth at unbelievable speed throughout the night, and though his message had been misconstrued, he had inadvertently gathered many followers wishing to fight with him for their own reasons. Seth knew once these people were melded with wolves, mutating their bodies and consciousness, they would be loyal soldiers. However, the problem he faced was the king’s reaction to Seth’s growing following. Seth knew not how the king might respond to Seth’s apparent raising of an army. If word had spread to the king that Seth had proclaimed himself a god, he would have a lot of explaining to do. Seth had to figure out a way to show his loyalty to the king as well as a way to show his new followers that their so-called god took his orders from the king to better serve the kingdom. It was a very tangled web Seth had fallen into, with loyalties and responsibilities holding him fast, each movement he made in one direction caused tugging in ten others. Seth wondered at his ability to keep it all in balance.
Stepping beyond the great onyx-colored walls, Seth and Sara were met by a tumultuous cheer. The people gathered here believed Seth their savior, just as Ishanya believed him the champion to her cause. The king believed him to be the deciding factor in the battle to come, just as Sara believed him too good for her affections. Borrik and the wolf men believed him a god among mortal men, and Seth believed he had no escape from any of their expectations of him.
Jonas issued ahead of Seth and Sara, clearing a path through the crowd for the newly-wed couple. Without pause Seth strode a few hundred yards, putting some space between himself and the castle wall, as well as gaining the attention of all those who gathered. Turning to face the many people who had come, Seth guessed that he had accumulated at least another hundred followers. It was a ragtag band of men and women at best, with a few children who were near to, but had not yet reached, the age of adulthood. The people here had done as they were told, and they carried little upon their persons, though Seth assumed that they had little in the way of belongings remaining to them in any case. Most of them clung to something that could suffice as a weapon, from knives to clubs, from pitchforks to shovels. Seth’s weary band of lost souls had done as they were commanded to the best of their abilities.
Seth was not surprised to see that as he assessed his followers through his wolfish visor, more people, coming in twos and threes, poured out from the gates to join the growing crowd. He wondered how many more would come, and hoped that it was both few and many. Seth was torn. With every soldier he could create, it made better odds for their victory in battle, yet with each follower he gained he became responsible over yet another life. Looking to Sara, Seth momentarily lost himself in her loving amber eyes, shining through her wicked helm. Just looking at her seemed to help Seth focus, and returning his gaze to his newest followers, speaking as loudly and clearly as he was able, Seth directed them to clear the road and line up in an orderly formation. Taking his cue, Jonas strode towards the crowd and began directing them into ranks. Within moments four equal lines appeared with men evenly spaced, one row behind the other. Seth dared not give any orders yet nor make any more plans without first gauging the king's reaction to his growing following. So with nothing left to do, Seth remained with Sara at his side, and they waited patiently for the king's arrival.
Long moments passed before Seth could hear the pounding of many hooves upon the cobble roads within the castle. Seconds later Borrik exited the city and spotting Seth, marched directly to his side.
"M'lord, the king approaches leading his retinue to battle, and it appears you left your mounts behind at the inn,” Borrik observed. "Do you not plan to join the king?"
Seth had in fact forgotten the great white beasts tethered outside the inn where they had spent a portion of the night. So much had happened in the day already Seth had once again overlooked what seemed like a minor detail. The gesture might appear different to the king. Seth was horrified and knowing he had no time to return to gather the beasts, nor could he send one of his wolf men as the horses would likely flee the creatures, Seth shouted the name of the singular man among his followers that he knew.
"Connor Falion!" Seth shouted. Seth then watched as the large bulky man extracted himself from the ranks of his peers. "Go to the inn where I spent the night, and fetch my horses," Seth ordered. The huge man without so much as a nod dashed quickly back into the city, disappearing beneath the portcullis and happy to at least for the moment have purpose once again.
The thrumming of hoof beats drummed louder and louder through the cool morning air until eventually Seth reached out with his senses to find the king much closer than he had anticipated. The immense stone walls of the city appeared to be muting the sounds of the approaching horses. Deciding upon a course of action, Seth quickly led Sara back to the road and beckoned Borrik and Jonas to join him as well. Positioning himself in the center of the road, with Sara at his side and each of his wolf men taking up positions of guards to either side of the young couple, Seth waited the last moments until the king rode through the narrow gate. Sitting confidently upon his horse, he reined in his mount several yards ahead of Seth who took a knee, subjugating himself to the king. Sara and Seth’s wolf men copied his actions, as well as the large crowd of Seth’s gathered followers. Seeing the king nod his approval, Seth rose to his feet and approached the king's mount hoping for a modicum of privacy. The procession of the king's retinue had ground to a halt as Seth began to speak to King Valdadore.
"Your majesty, these men and women wish to join my troops and fight for the kingdom. They have lost all they owned and all they loved. They have no homes, no money, and no food," Seth said.
"As much as I have already heard, Lord Seth," the king stated. "But I have heard too that a god walks among men, and that your own troops claim you to be such a god," the king added with an unpleasant tone, one of his eyebrows rising in question.
"A discrepancy I wish I could have foreseen," Seth said. "It has been brought to my attention that my wolf troops hold to their feral side as far as beliefs are concerned, and they recognize me as their creator. It is nothing more than a misunderstanding, one I intend to prevent from happening again," Seth assured the king.
"Shall you be riding with us then, Lord Seth, or marching with your troops?" the king asked. "It is only half a day’s ride to the army, or a long day’s march. In either case you should arrive well in time to uphold your duty to the kingdom. It appears our enemy waits to attack in earnest. They simply harass us for now."
Seth nodded his understanding before replying that he would march with his men until well underway, and then he would race ahead to the army once his troops were prepared. Stepping aside, Seth, Sara and their guards cleared the way and the king spurred his mount and his retinue rushed to follow suit.
Seth then turned to Borrik.
"How do the men progress?" Seth asked. A moment passed as specific details were exchanged between Seth’s pack of wolf men and then Borrik, receiving the information his master wanted, replied.
"Many packs have already been won, m'lord. The men as we speak race to track down several other known packs. As our numbers increase we gain new information from those of our wolven brothers and sisters, allowing us to locate more alphas to challenge. Within an hour our men should have collected near two hundred and a half wolves for your disposal. However, m'lord, they have already won those packs nearest our location and run with all haste in all directions to collect more. The longer they gather together the many packs in the great forest, the further away they will be," Borrik answered.
"How soon could they return from their current positions?" Seth questioned. Again Borrik seemed to ponder the question a moment before answering.
"Captain Corbin is the furthest. He estimates over two hours to reach Raven's Keep," Borrik said.
"Tell them all to continue for another hour, and then meet us on the road south of the castle with all haste," Seth replied.
Having decided a course of action, Seth estimated that in an hour, the furthest of his troops would be over three hours away, so in little more than four hours all of his troops and their newly obtained packs should be able to make the city. If Seth marched out his troops now, the ragtag band of half-starving people would make poor time on foot, and his wolf men should catch up to them upon the road in less than five hours. Seth gave his orders to both Borrik and Jonas, and seeing that the large farmer Connor had returned with their mounts, Seth took the reins from the man and thanked him, before he and Sara mounted their beasts to lead a retinue of their own. Borrik and Jonas began literally barking orders to the humans who, remaining in their current formation, turned and strode onto the road. Seth and Sara took the lead, allowing their mounts to stroll lazily along the road, setting an easy pace for their would-be troops. Borrik and Jonas took positions on either side of the road, each opposite one another with the large human band in between. Seth estimated he had four and a half hundred men now at his disposal, and expected near two and a half hundred wolves. He would have near two hundred men and women untransformed if the numbers were correct. Seth spent the next several hours pondering what to do with them.
Lost in his own thoughts, Seth rode along the road nearly five hours before the sounds of barking and yapping came rolling over the hills from a distance behind them. As the sounds grew nearer and nearer, Seth and all who were in his following, were surprised at a sudden change in scenery. The hours previous had passed with them all traveling down the barren road heading south, without so much as a bird taking flight to break the monotony. However, as the enormous pack of wolves plunged across the rolling hills in broad daylight, they drove before them waves of animals both predatory and passive. Raccoons and rats, hares and other vermin darted this way and that trying to escape what they knew was an inevitable end. Deer bounded over the hills in the distance, and birds took flight from every small valley. Suddenly the stark day was awash in life of every form and color. Seth watched as a multitude of animals attempted to flee certain death, squawking and squeaking and hissing as they overtook the humans upon the road, who had all but stopped to witness the commotion. The vision reminded Seth of a children's story that Rose, one of his elderly neighbors, had read to him years ago of a man who played a lute driving rodents into the sea, sparing his village from a plague. Such was the mass of small bodies scurrying over the hillside that it appeared as if the hills themselves had come alive. It was a shame Seth could think of no need for rat men, for here was an abundance of rats and other various rodents.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Seth saw a graceful, unbelievably fast animal racing a few hundred yards away. Such was its agility that it bounded effortlessly over the ground, clearing incredible distances with each leap. Seth recognized the animal as being some sort of large feline. It looked much like a mouser, a common city cat bred to keep the rodents down, only this beast was much larger with honey-colored fur covered in dark spots. Now
that
would make a useful warrior, Seth thought, and though the species was unknown to him, and though it pained him to end its supple beauty, the thought of a warrior with such grace intrigued Seth so much that he reached out with his mental abilities and left only a wisp of ash in the wind as he stripped the life from the animal. That’s when it occurred to Seth that he had been mistaken all along.
Leaping down from his mount, Seth looked to Borrik and Jonas, each of them two parts man and one part wolf. Though Seth had melded them with orcs, making them larger, stronger and faster, their perfection was mostly due to the combined sum of their man and wolf sides. So although they would not be as big or as fast or as strong as their captains, if Seth were to split the life of each wolf his men brought, adding half of its life each to two separate humans, he would create the same ratio. These troops would be less than the originals, but still superior to an average man.
Seth summoned Borrik with a wave and gave the orders for his men to keep the wolves just over the last hill behind them. Borrik relayed the order. Seth himself then ordered the humans to create two single lines to each side of the narrow road as near the hill as possible. Watching as his fellow humans rushed to comply, Seth walked down the forming lines of his followers, looking for something specific. He noted as Sara took the reins of both his and her mounts and led the animals over a further hill to distance them from what was about to happen so as to not spook the beasts. Seth walked on, viewing over a hundred of his newest followers, before finding who it was that he was looking for.
Several hundred yards into his search, Seth came across two young women, who appeared to be sisters. They shared the same features, though one was obviously the older of the two. Both girls had sandy-colored hair with hazel eyes and pale creamy skin. Neither of them had yet reached the age of adulthood and Seth guessed one to be near seventeen, the other fourteen or fifteen. Both girls had already matured fully, and looking beyond their soiled clothes and hair, they had a common beauty. Seth asked them if they were sure they wanted to join the ranks of his troops, if it meant becoming less human. Both girls with a slightly fearful look nodded in determination. Placing a hand upon each of their foreheads Seth unleashed the power of the great feline within him, and channeling it in equal proportions he poured the energy into the women as sweet moans of pleasure escaped their lips and their bodies trembled in delight. As the girls wriggled beneath his touch, sighing at the pleasurable effects of the life washing through them, Seth watched as their skin slowly vanished beneath coats of fur, soft as velvet. He watched as spots appeared on the honey-colored fur, and continued to watch still as their ears grew to points and their noses flattened out, becoming wider. Above their top lips whiskers sprouted from evenly spaced follicles. Seth still clung to the young women as their groans of pleasure turned into purrs and they ceased their wriggling, regaining control of themselves. Seth stood back, admiring his work as gasps came from those nearby who had witnessed the creation of the pair of exotic beauties. Seth, however, was not prepared for what happened next.