Wolf Omega: Lykanos Chronicles 2

I woke to gentle rocking. It had pulled me from another dream of the forest. I could not remember the details, other than I was searching for someone. I saw a thin sliver of moon in the sky, then turned in another direction as if guided. I felt the earth sway under my feet.

My eyes opened to the light of midday, which poured in from small windows I hadn’t noticed in the dark. There were six along the upper perimeter of Duccio’s cabin. Rectangular, long, and thin, I couldn’t see well out of them. Still, they bathed the room with light, and I rose from the bed, eager to see what else the night had obscured.

Angelo had returned the small basin while I slept. I was never so grateful to find it, feeling the effects of my indulgence in Duccio’s wine as I rose.

When I finally left the cabin, I looked for Angelo but found only the concerned stares of what few men were working inside the vessel. It wasn’t that I didn’t notice them or think how dangerous it was to be alone there with them—it was that I no longer felt the panic. Perhaps it was Duccio’s assurance that I was in no danger aboard this vessel.

I climbed the steps to the upper deck to find we were docked before another town along the lake, just at the sloping base of a large, rounded hill. More startling, I found towering mountains all around us, perfectly visible at terrific distances on this clear day. Beneath them, I saw the lake in daylight, looking just beautifully as Duccio’s mind had shared it with me. It was a vast flat valley of shimmering water bordered on all sides by peaks that rose to unimaginable heights.

“Donna?” Angelo’s voice asked with surprise to find me there.

“Angelo, where is Don Lupofiero?” I implored.

“The master is gone. He will return when he has done his business.” The sweet boy’s voice came resolutely like a little bell.

“This is Como?” I asked, nodding to the town before us.

“Bellagio,” Angelo corrected me. “Are you hungry, Donna? I will bring breakfast to the master’s quarters for you.”

“That’s sweet of you. Thank you,” I told him, and he smiled at my appreciative tone.

It struck me again, the strangeness of this pretense. In the light of day, acting as if I were someone else, I felt absurd. It was even more inexplicable given how anyone should be able to look at my clothes and know the truth. And why would Duccio ever want such a thing?

Perhaps that was a foolish question. Our ability to hear each other’s silent voice made us unique. He must want to keep it secret, I thought, and separating me from the others must seem reasonable even by this deception.

So, I played along.

Giving Bellagio and the surrounding mountains one last awe-inspired glance, I returned to his cabin to wait out the rest of the day.

I ran up the hillside in perfect silence, following the scent of him. Though he attempted to escape me, his image came in shades of burnt amber to fill my mind. With this beacon to guide me, I wouldn’t lose him now.

The moon would not rise for an hour, but it would only be the sharpest sliver of a waxing crescent. He would never see me coming. At least, not with his eyes.

Speed was my ally, and I raced over the sharp terrain, closing the distance as much as I could before he might sense my approach and bolt.

No sooner had I thought this when his mellow amber changed to a raging fire. Aided by the night’s pitch black, the riot of color filled my vision like an explosion.

He knew I was near, and now he was terrified.

Losing the advantage of stealth did not disappoint me. Instead, I became all the more thrilled. The excitement of the moment flooded my limbs with adrenaline, offering them a more tremendous advantage.

Power.

My muscles became like a malleable stone. I flew up the terrain with such speed that my feet no longer felt the forest earth as I raced forward.

In seconds, I overtook him, pummeling him to the ground to seize hold of his unrelenting body. At once, I pulled back his head and bit savagely at his neck, feeling the fiery blood on my tongue. I clenched my jaw with a second shot of strength to drive my teeth in deeper, then jerked to rip the soft flesh away.

It was done, but he had not yet accepted the truth. His body still fought me, clawing at my arms and face in their vain attempt to seize the advantage. Anger poured from his mind. It outraged him to be challenged in this way. But I waited, letting the hot, salted blood run from his throat, hearing his heart race in defiance until it must naturally wane.

You dare! he said to me over and over as his fire dimmed.

When I could no longer see the color of his fear, when his strength left him, and his breathing finally stopped, I relaxed my grip. Exhaling in triumph, I let the last of his blood flow over my greedy tongue, delivered in minor spurts by the final, desperate beats of his defeated heart.

I opened my eyes in terror and sat up in bed. The taste of blood was still in my mouth. What had tasted delicious now turned my stomach with revulsion.

But for the single lit candle, I was in darkness. The gentle sway of the bed oriented my mind, and I remembered I was aboard the sail barge.

Duccio was returning. I sensed he was some distance away but that I only had a few minutes to flee before he’d arrive at the vessel.

I rose from the bed, and my feet stumbled to find the floor. Slipping on my shoes with reasonable success, I tried to leave quietly. But my clumsy limbs didn’t achieve this as they ran into every noisy hindrance hidden along my path in the dim light.

Once in the narrow hallway outside the cabin door, I abandoned any hope of a silent exit. My brazen hands held me steady, both out against the wooden walls and doors, banging against them almost like a drum.

When I was finally to the stairs, I thundered up to the top deck. Only a couple lanterns were lit, but they were enough to see that a thick fog had blanked the vessel. I barely saw three few feet in front of me. Looking overboard and down to find the dock, it stunned me to realize I couldn’t locate it.

How could I ever get down the narrow wooden path alone? The idea of slipping and falling into the foggy abyss overwhelmed me with fear, and I recoiled.

Then I heard him.

From ahead, where my eyes would see the dock touch land, I saw Duccio standing alone if not for the blinding fog. I could not see him with my eyes, but his image shone in my mind.

Demon, I said without meaning to address the fiend.

He laughed at me. I didn’t hear him with my ears, but I was sure of it. My statement amused him—that I should fear him—and he laughed almost lovingly.

Who are you? I asked.

You know who I am, he answered. I’ve told you my name—Duccio. Why are you afraid again?

I saw what you did, I said, not meaning to reveal the truth to him.

My thought ended his amusement. He froze; I could sense it unmistakably. He was not angered or embarrassed, but rather Duccio was astonished.

How do you know what I did? he asked through the silence of the dense fog.

I was there, I answered him, unable to stop myself. I saw you kill him. I smelled and tasted his blood as you drew the very life from him. I saw his light dim and burn out. And his words; they came again and again. “How dare you?” he said.

Duccio remained in silent wonder of what I revealed. He stepped forward down the dock several paces before I thought to move away. But then I heard him again.

Sleep, he whispered.

As if the very timbre of his voice had some undefinable power over me, I felt persuasive fatigue fall over my limbs like a warm blanket. I shook my head and exhaled, attempting to regain the consciousness that was slipping away from me.

As I tried to step backward, I felt Duccio’s gentle arms lift me and carry me away.