The Mountains Blade

Chapter Four

Chapter Four: The Human Shadows

The general of the wolf kingdom followed the young warrior through the portal.
He was careful not to alert her of his presence and wondered why she was venturing into the human world at such an odd hour. Dusk had come, and the sun was nowhere to be found. Dane watched the chestnut color of Elwyn Greywater's hair appear from her cloak as she discarded it behind a dumpster. He raised a brow at this but continued following her.

The smell of blood quickly averted his attention, and he snapped his gaze away from the young royal.
Beside the dumpster was a strip of buildings, mainly offices and a bookstore. Dane wrinkled his nose and removed a pistol from its holder beside his sword. He had decided that if he were to kill someone, it would be better if it did not look like a ten-foot blade sliced through them.
Behind the buildings, the scent growing stronger, Dane looked behind discarded bins and boxes. It didn't take him long to find the dead security guard. Dane didn't bother to check for a pulse; he could smell the death with his keen senses.

Dane lowered his weapon and questioned who would have done this. The guard was dressed in the traditional mall cop uniform, black slacks, a button-up, and a taser. His taser lay feet away from him, smashed to smithereens, his guts hanging out on display.

The sound of crashing inside one of the doors drew his attention, and suddenly the general remembered who he was following.
Pocketing the gun, Dane decided a sword was more than just a weapon in this situation.
He opened the door gently and stepped inside to a scene that was both gruesome and beautiful. Pages of books flew throughout the air, landing on blood and painting the already old walls with their bright color. Behind the counter, an older man, likely the owner lay dead, throat slit horribly.

And Elwyn Greywater stood watching a man gurgle on his blood, a broken piece of glass in hand. The side of her head was bleeding, but other than that, she looked simply angry.

"Wynn?" A voice asked from the second floor of the store. Both Dane's and Elwyn's attention snapped upwards. Still, the general had not been noticed. At the edge of the metal spiraling staircase, a boy similar in age stood. He had blood pooling out of him and collapsed almost immediately after speaking.

Elwyn wasted no time barreling up the stairs, inhuman speed helping her as she caught his head before it cracked against the wooden floor.

Amidst this, another attacker appeared at the door's entrance and raised his weapon at Elwyn.
Dane made it from the back door to the front entryway before he could do any harm. The shot rang out in his ear, and he growled, punching it from his hand. The tip of his blade ran through the underside of his chin.
The quick movement and slaughter caught the other warriors' attention.
"Dane?" Elwyn Greywater gasped, tears streaming down her face as she held her dead friend.

Dane could smell his death in the air, knowing full well that once Elwyn turned back to the boy, she too would realize.
Dane made it up the stairs right as a cry tore through her. "Max?" Her voice cracked as she shook him, his blood spilling onto her.
"We need to go," Dane said, grabbing hold of the back of her dress and hoisting her up. Dane didn't know what these people were up to, but the stench of death that lingered around them, even alive, made him uneasy.

Elwyn latched her arms around the boy's already pale face, his blonde hair making the change in skin even more apparent. "No, I can't leave him."
Dane gritted his teeth as the death smell grew. "Elwyn." He warned. Still, the girl pushed against him. "There are more coming, and if you want your friend's death to be for nothing, then stay and die." The general was aware of his harshness but remained stoic as she paused, looking up at him in silent horror. Maybe it was anger, but it was enough for her to stop and kick him back.

The general stumbled and was about to reprimand her when he saw the swing of silver above his head.

Dane spun around to face a man shrouded in dark shadows. This was what he was smelling. Growling in anger, the general sliced his blade in and out of him, sending him over the ledge with a boot to the chest.

Dane turned, blood sticking to his face, scar tightening as he glowered at Elwyn.

Before the girl could argue, Dane grabbed hold of Elwyn, pulling the girl down the stairs. Elwyn shrugged off his hold and faltered when she saw the crowd of humans at the door. They were like the others, dressed in black, shadows lurking around them, the pungent smell of death stinging Danes nostrils. Dane nonchalantly passed Elwyn a small dagger from his armory. He made a show of twirling his sword before he pounced off the middle of the stairs. Elwyn followed suit, throwing herself over the ledge.

The air pulsed in her ears, and she faltered as she raised the blade to kill her enemy. The face of the man whose throat she carved out flashed before her. As the shadow human dove for her, Dane shoved her aside, barely in time. He tore through the remainder of the men as if they were nothing but silk cloth. It had been eight of them, and once they were dead, red blood oozing into the spines of books, they left. Dane wasted no time, full-on sprinting for the portal. Elwyn wasn't too far behind, her Nephilim blood kicking in as she flew through the trees.

The sound of feet in hot pursuit echoed behind them. Even Elwyn, who didn't have as strong senses, could smell the foulness of the shadowed humans.

Dane and Elwyn both slid into the cave that led to Goldmoon. Both soldiers turned to look at what lay behind them. To their surprise, the shadowed humans had not followed them.

Hearts pounding in their ears, both exited the cave into Goldmoon. Elwyn emerged after Dane, holding a bloodied dagger. Elwyn's hands tingled from where the blood was on her hand, and upon looking, she found her skin burning.

Dane grasped her and threw them into the stream on the other side of the cave. Elwyn pushed to the surface and gasped, wiping frantically at her skin. Where the blood had been were angry burns on her hand and arms. Dane did the same, although with wolf blood flowing through him, the wound quickly scabbed over on his face.

Dane silently pulled himself from the stream and began trudging toward the castle, not waiting for Elwyn to follow.