Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 22 - To be in one's skin

Kieran

I drove the twig I had found on the ground through the nearest zombie's heart, and turned around to see Darina fighting with two zombies at once. They were closing in on us from all sides. I was so stupid to come here unarmed, yes they had taken all of my weaponry from me the day I was captured. But a true hunter should be ready to face any situation, be  able turn anything into a weapon. They circled us in droves, hunger and desperation so clear in their decayed and disfigured faces.

In all my years as a hunter I have never been unfortunate enough to come across this many zombies. That is not because I've been so lucky or anything, which I'm so clearly not. Only the uncivilized lower-level vamps left the corpses of their prey without burning them.

A zombie, little girl no older than ten, nearly teared off Darina's hand from behind while she was defending herself from one in front.

        For once I was frightened in a battle, but surprisingly it wasn't for my life. The protective instinct that surged through me surprised even myself. I wanted to protect her with every fiber of my body, but how?

Two more zombies flanked her from sides, cutting all of her defense and truly and utterly tricking her in to their trap. It seemed as if she was their only prey and I was just a minor annoyance.

I had already tried to force my body to change shapes. I knew it was the fear for Darina's life that had trigered the change the last time.

But this time it was like trying to find the end of the rainbow. Every time you go close to catch it jumps several feet back. so I searched my surroundings for anything to be used as a weapon and saw Darina's dagger impaled on the ground like a gift from the god.

My years as a hunter told me not to do it, that I should no interfere in a fight that is already lost. I could take on two, three Wraith easily, but four or five, that's stretching it too far. But as cheesy as it sounds, I knew I would not be able to live with myself if I let her die. If I could manage to take down at least three of these brainless meat sacks, she would have a fighting chance to win.

   But before I put my plan in to action I heard a loud growling sound to my left. A huge black wolf jumped into the clearing, tearing two wraiths off in the mid air. The wolf paced the ground between me and where Darina was fighting the zombies, looking at me time to time with it's big neon blue eyes.

Is it waiting for my permission?

"Please save her."

It nodded its head as if it understood me and sprang into action.

The fight was over quickly with the much needed help from my new friend. I threw caution into the wind and ran towards Darina as soon as the last Wraith fell.

She looked terribly young and fragile, covered with the black blood of the Wraith . Her hair disheveled and her dress torn and dirty.

"Darina, are you alright?" I asked, kneeling beside her on the ground.

I was slightly startled by her answering growl but soon realized it wasn't exactly directed at me. How could I forgot the big bad wolf that come to our rescue ( or it only killed the zombies so it won't have to share the meat, it's hard to tell with these things). I tighten the grip on Darina's dagger and quickly turned around. Where a great black wolf was a moment ago, now stood a man. He looked to be in his mid thirties. Tall and built like a brick wall. If not for his shoulder length unruly russet coloured hair and malfunction in the clothes department, I would have mistaken him for a stunt guy from an action movie.

The only clue that gave away his otherworldly origin was his eyes, which had not changed it's colour with the shift.

I should stop calling myself a hunter. How could I miss the fact that we were in the presence of a werewolf?

" Who are you wolf? Your kind is not excepted in this territory."

" There numbers are getting higher by the day. Have your people gotten so bored with your filthy existence and decided to start the Zombie apocalypse?" He said with the most snarky expression imaginable on his face. "And the name's  Rafael by the way. But you can call me any name you want." He added with a wink towards Darina.
Yeah, what about dog?

Darina completely ignored Rafael's hopeless flirting like it was a boring everyday occurrence.

" You didn't answer my question." Darina said in her ' queen' voice which demanded obedience from pretty much everybody.

But Rafael only looked at me when he answered her question.

" I'm a warrior of your grandfather's court."

Okay, now I wish if I could travel back in time and get eaten by the zombies. At least then I could die in the blessed ignorance. How can my life get complicated that it was already. Just how I envy those people whose biggest concern in life is to get home at night in time to watch their favorite TV reality show.