Shadow and Memory

Part 1

But in those few moments of hesitation the scene had changed. There was no longer an unarmed young man standing before their escaping prisoner. There was now a hulking mass of fur and muscle, golden eyes gleaming in the firelight.

Wulfric jumped forward, sinking his claws into the leather chest piece of the nearest man and pulling him up sharply, lifting him from his feet. He turned and threw the man one handed into the next one to come close, knocking both backwards. He imagined he must look positively demonic right now, a great half illuminated mass of teeth and claws and shining eyes, half obscured by thick oil smoke. He fought with his sense of hearing as much as sight, his sensitive ears unobstructed by the chaotic lighting and cloying smoke from the oil fire.

He heard booted footsteps to his left and turned sharply, bringing up his claws for a strike, only to watch as an arrow caught him in the neck and sent him to the floor. Wulfric looked sharply to the side, seeing Lady Carol, holding his own recurve bow and a handful of pilfered arrows. She must have tugged them from his back just as the fight began. She still looked scared, but she was nocking another arrow to the string with practiced fluidity, drawing back and loosing another shot. Even in the heat of the fight he allowed himself a surprised chuckle.

And then he was back into it. He slashed and bit and kicked, he tasted fresh blood in his mouth but wasn't entirely sure when it had gotten there, he let his leg sweep out to send a man catapulting back through the smoky flames and did not care where he landed. He felt a sword stroke fall on his heavy frame and lashed out blindly, rewarded with only a cry of pain before he refocused his efforts on the next threat.

AS suddenly as the frantic melee had begun, it ended, not because they had slain all their foes, but because they dropped back, giving them some space. Wulfric panted taking stock of the situation, eyes darting about quickly. He snarled in anger at what he saw. More armored fighters were marching down from the mouth of the cave, drawing swords and moving to block them off. Was there an entire army out there? There were twenty more of them at least. It seemed that this mysterious employer was taking no chances with his prize. The mercenaries had fallen back, some standing fearfully out of his reach, others readying bows to strike at range.

Carol was at his side, having readied the last arrow she'd grabbed from his quiver before his change had vanished it along with his human form. "It was a good try." She said, giving him a stiff nod.

"We're not dead yet." Wulfric rumbled, looking out into the mass of the mercenaries.

The leader was there, holding Wulfric's own axe in his hand and shouting at his troops to stand their ground and stop running. One of the mercenaries readied a bow to shoot but the captain held up a hand to stop him. "No you idiot! You might hit her and cost us the reward! We'll have to kill that thing hand to hand!"

"What? I'm not going near that monster, it killed five men!"

"Seven!" Wulfric roared back, though in truth he had no idea how many had been slain or merely injured, he only meant to frighten them further.

"And we've seventy more to go after them! Now get in there!" The captain shouted, though his men seemed hesitant to move.

Wulfric looked out, and found it to be no idle boast, there seemed to be a small army here now, both royal troops and mercenaries, they only had seconds before they were completely encircled and escape became impossible. He sighed, escape to the surface was already impossible, he could not charge into that mass of armed men, he would be dragged down and killed. His eyes strayed from the exit, off to the right hand passage, the one leading down into the depths of the ruin. Of course it was completely unguarded. By Vaden sensibilities one would have to be utterly mad to go down there. Mad, or desperate.

Wulfric looked back to Lady Carol. "We are going to make a break for it." He said quietly, his voice a low rumble which did not carry beyond them. "You're going to jump onto my back and hold on for dear life, do you understand?"

She looked like she might have wanted to question him, but she simply nodded firmly. He nodded back, then looked back to the captain.

"That." He said, pointing to the gleaming axe in the mercenary's hand. "Is mine."

The man looked as if he might have been about to utter some boast, brandishing Wulfric's stolen weapon, before the words died in his throat. The weapon was yanked from his hand so forcefully it might have broken a finger or two on its parting, spinning through the air towards its owner's outstretched hand.

The axe transformed as it flew, growing and shifting. The wood of the handle extended, the gleaming spike at its base enlarging. The blade swelled and grew, the twisting traceries etched into the metal writhing like serpents. By the time the weapon reached its master it had grown into a two handed great axe, sized for Wulfric's enlarged bestial frame. It moved through the air so fast as to be blurred with speed, but when the handle hit his outstretched hand it was as gentle as if someone had simply handed it to him.

"Now!" Wulfric roared, rearing up and raising the axe, swinging hard and letting it fly from his hand once more. The huge axe whistled keenly through the air, spinning towards the men who stood between Wulfric and the path down into the ruin. The men dived aside, though his target was too slow and the axe slammed fully into his chest, cleaving through armor and sticking into him.

Wulfric fell forward, letting his body shift once more. When his hands hit the stone floor they were paws. His size remained the same, but his stance shifted to put him on all fours, the shape of a normal wolf, albeit one the size of a horse. He heard the twang of a bow being released, and for a moment feared for Carol's safety, before he felt her jump onto his back and grab hold firmly.

Her secured, he charged forwards into the opening he made, grabbing the haft of his axe in his jaws and picking it up as he ran, sprinting towards the open and unprotected path down into the depths. He heard shouting behind him, heard cries of pain and confusion, heard Carol suddenly pleading with him to turn the other way and go back to the surface entrance and escape. He ignored everything, knowing this was the only way to escape the battle alive. He didn't turn back, didn't slow down. He raced past the lanterns, past the warning signs, past the ring of tenuous firelight and plunged into murky semi-blackness.

He raced on, Carol clinging to his back for dear life, down, down, down into the bowels of the earth until all light had faded and the shouts of the mercenaries faded into silence.