Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 6

Willow tried to fight the guard, but he was strong. Just as strong as the Slavers had been. She screamed and flailed, all thoughts of her impending death driving her to fight even more. No one said anything, many even turned their heads away in shame and fear. The man who had claimed her only looked on in amusement.

“Make sure she doesn’t bite you, I hear human bites can be very nasty,” said the man with a chuckle.

The guard was having a hard time keeping ahold of her. She was trying to scratch out his eyes; huge red marks covered his face. She wiggled and squirmed so much that the guard was having to hold her to him bodily. Hearing the man’s comment, she leaned down to bite the guard’s arm, and he jerked to prevent it, causing her to fall the short couple of feet to the ground.

Landing in a crouch, she didn’t give the guard a chance to react, darting down the aisle between the cages. Seeing her free caused the people in the cages to start cheering her on. Word spread very quickly and soon the whole cave was filled with people shouting and carrying on. Guards were soon all over the place trying to find and catch her as the man seemed unsurprised. In fact, if Willow had known any better, she would almost have thought he did it on purpose.

Panting hard, she hid under the edge of one of the cages. They were lifted off the floor a couple of feet, so that waste water could flow freely. Waiting for the guards to dart down other aisles, she darted to the next cage, making her way slowly to the exit. Trying to draw the guards away, people far from her started to call out that they had seen her, further helping her.

As the entrance to the cave came into view, her heart sank. Two massive werewolves were chained, one on either side of the entrance. It was full day out, so if she could make it past them, the guards and vampires couldn’t follow until dark. Strangely, none of the guards were in sight. All of the screaming from the cages had drawn the attention of the wolves and they were straining against the thick chains that constrained them.

Suddenly there was a large snap, and one of the werewolves broke the mount that kept the chain attached to the wall. With a large leap, it headed towards the nearest cage, causing all the people inside to scream in fear. The bars on the cages were just fine in keeping people contained, but never had a chance to restrain the power of a werewolf. The excitement of seeing the first wolf tear into the people and obviously enjoying the carnage caused the second wolf to tear free from its wall mount as well. Both giant werewolves dragged their chains behind them as they tore into different cages, snapping at the people trapped inside.

Seeing that half of each wolf was buried deep into their respective cages, Willow decided to make a run for it, and darted for the entrance. There was a shout behind her, possibly from a guard, but she didn’t hesitate, running with everything she had in her small body. As she broke out into the sun, she didn’t stop. Hearing the screams behind her, she ran even harder, disappearing into the bushes of the forest.

“Should we let the wolves get her?” asked a guard to the man as he stopped just shy of the sun’s burning rays.

“No, let her spread the horrors and fuel the fear to those who still dwell in the wild. It helps keep them in one place when we send the Slavers after them, if they believe they can hide in groups. Besides, she would have hardly been a meal. Not worth the effort really.” There was a gleam in the man’s eye as he turned back to watch the guards pull the wolves away from the torn and bloody mess of cages.

Having eaten well, the wolves allowed the guards to lead them away without much of a fuss. Then they began to push the ruined cages away in order to replace them with others. Apparently, it was common for the wolves to occasionally break free and tear into a cage. All the people who watched from their own cages were pale and silent. The fact that Willow had escaped was lost on all of them in light of the carnage they had just watched with the werewolves.

Willow continued to run blindly, not knowing if they would be able to keep the wolves from coming after her, or if there were other wolves around. All she could think about was the screams of the people as they were killed. The sounds mingling with the sounds of her friends being rounded up by the Slavers in her head. She was blind to where she placed her feet as she ran, the branches whipping across her face, her arms pumping at her sides trying to keep up with her frenzied movements.

Suddenly, a river roared in front of her, and she was tumbling down the steep slope into the freezing waters. Now her frenzied movements changed to a frantic dog paddle, the only way she knew to swim. Water blinded her and made her deaf to everything. A large tree torn loose by the flood waters, swept past, grabbing the remains of her clothes and jerking her along with it on its rush downstream.

She fought the branches that clung to her clothes, ripping them in her panic. Her lungs burned from the repeated dunks underwater and her arms and legs were starting to feel rubbery and numb. Finally, she managed to rip free, just as the edge of a waterfall filled her vision. As she fell through the air, she was suddenly light as a feather. In the distance she could see a great expanse of water and she wondered briefly if she would ever live to see it.

The water swallowed her and chewed her up at the bottom of the falls, determined to keep her to itself, but the tree had prior claim to her, and grabbed her up once again, lifting her high into the air with a branch that broke under her weight. She came to rest on the trunk of the tree as it slowed its mad dash to a gentle meander. Water trickled from her mouth, mixed with the faintest tinge of blood. She hated baths.