Nightclaw: Blood Moon Apex

Chapter 21: Back To The Manor

"Are you okay, girl?" Valeria asked as she repositioned the pickup truck's rearview mirror to look at Nightclaw, who was hugging her father, Dave, tightly following her rather emotional ordeal.

Dave then held Nightclaw a few inches away and looked her up and down, echoing the countess's thoughts concernedly. "Did anyone in there hurt you?"

"No," the werewolf replied, much to everyone's relief.

Then, Esther reached over and lightly tapped Nightclaw on the arm. "Tell everyone what you told me," he instructed. "Nightclaw has something to say about the people inside that cave."

"Whoa.....what is it?" Lily inquired, fascinated. "Is it about 'General Vultur'?"

Theo also raised his hand. "Oh! And did you get any feathers off of her? My electric guitar's starting to look more and more bland by the day....."

".....Are her feathers all you care about?!"

"No! ......I could also use that staff of hers; maybe I could reforge it into a sick pair of drumsticks!"

Everyone groaned incredulously before Nightclaw shut them all up. "Guys! .....You guys! General Vultur killed Murray!"

Valeria slammed her foot on the brake, bringing the entire vehicle to an abrupt stop and roughly slamming poor Remus and Jet —who were in the back flatbed—against the rear window.

The whole party gasped, with the color significantly draining from Dave's face. "......What? No.....I thought the spectral eagle he saw was a hallucination! She sent it?!"

"She sent it to our house, and infected him with the tumor while he slept," Nightclaw elaborated, clearly traumatized at having to relive the incident again. "She wanted to hurt me so she could form a connection with me. So it could be easier for her to sympathize with the Order. So.....she hurt him."

"Wait, are you sure about this?!" Lily exclaimed. "I really should've shot her, too....."

"Wouldn't have done anything. The Generals can quickly heal themselves," the heroine pointed out.

Every single person—and werewolf—on that entire truck was overcome by a wave of stunned silence, trying to comprehend the truth behind Murray Rosenblood's death. After all, they all had been affected to a degree; the Order, Valeria, and Esther had lost a valuable ally, while Dave lost a son and Nightclaw lost her younger brother. Though it didn't sting as hard for Lily and Theo, they had recently become close friends with the werewolf; whenever she grieved, they would grieve, too.

And Murray's death was all due to the schemes of some overzealous shamans trying to tackle overexploitation in the worst possible way.

Did you hear that?! Jet exclaimed to Remus. Vultur killed Murray! Do we need to take that eagle lady down?!

Yes.....I believe we do, Remus agreed, his internal voice filled with tranquil fury.

Soon, Dave decided that he had endured enough, and slammed his window in a fit of rage. ".....That's it. Valeria, turn around and go back to the cave. We're all going to roll on those Generals."

"Actually, I would highly advise against that," Esther cautioned, reaching into one of his lab pocket coats and pulling out a voice recorder stick. "Something tells me they might eventually come to us."