The Stronghold 2: Immortals

Stay Away From The Cliff Edge

Clamping Bill down to the ground with a ferocious snarl Starr dragged the old man backwards, closer to the cliff edge. I dived out of the way and tripped over Delta sending us both skidding across the grass and cannoning into Tobi. He snatched up Delta's collar and pulled her backwards just as she transformed back to a teenage girl. They both stood in shock for a second before hurriedly parting. I growled at them and turned my head back to watch the fight.

Bill threw Starr off him with incredible strength and grabbed his shotgun. Starr howled and sprang again, knocking the shotgun out of the old man's grasp. All the while I noticed that the werewolf tried not to bite down or break the skin, trying to stop his curse being passed onto someone else. He growled again and headbutted Bill as the man tried to run away, pushing him even closer to the cliff's edge. It looked like they were both about to fall as Bill grabbed a handful of Starr's fur and heaved with all his strength. Starr howled in fear and flipped over the old man's head, scrabbling for a hold as he slowly disappeared off the edge of the cliff.

In a second Delta was in the air as one massive eagle, swooping over the cliff edge and then re-emerging with a struggling werewolf held gently in her talons. She screeched and launched Starr at Bill who was lying on the ground triumphantly. One very heavy werewolf landed on one very grumpy old man and I winced in sympathy as Starr got a kick in the stomach. 

"You're all going to be reported!" Bill hollered, scrambling free from Starr's weight and snatching up his shotgun. "Tobi, Delta, whoever that dog is." He pointed the gun at me and I sat back on my hind legs, paws raised in surrender. I whimpered and Bill looked incredibly confused.

"He's definitely human," he murmured, lowering the shotgun. I barked once and heard a scuffling sound as Starr jumped to his feet, snarling low in his throat and charging into Bill. Both went flying off the cliff edge and Delta, who hadn't changed back, flew after them. She returned with Starr and dumped him in front of me before swooping onward to land in a tree. There she became human once more and smoothed down any rumples in her shorts. 

Starr whined in pain and slumped down onto his side, holding one leg at an awkward angle. I darted over and nudged him with my nose, yapping. He growled at first and then whined again as I accidentally hit his leg. Quickly making a decision inside my head I swiftly became human again =, deciding that werewolves could indeed understand English. 

"Delta, Tobi, go back inside," I said quietly, gingerly reaching out with a hand to stroke Starr's head. He snapped at me but then seemed to become resigned to the fact that I was going to stroke him. 

"Why? He can't hurt us," Delta pointed out.

"No, but I need you to do something for me," I continued in the same soft tone. "Take a first aid kit up to the room at the top of the house. Get out bandages and stuff that can make plaster. Like the sort of stuff they use to make casts. Once you've got the stuff, leave the room."

"One of our friends is a healer and a psychic," Tobi said helpfully. "We could go and get her, if you want."

"No," I said firmly. "First aid kit. Now." The teenagers retreated back up to the house, running after I sent shadows spiking around their feet. Soon the sounds of footsteps and talking had melted away into the night leaving me with an injured werewolf. I couldn't take him inside until he'd changed back, just in case somebody asked why I was carrying a werewolf. Shadows only really worked in short distances and I was too far away and too tired to use more strength to shadow-walk inside. I would have to carry or coax Starr/Brian closer towards the house before actually going inside. 

I glanced up at the clear sky and sighed. The moon was only just beginning to sink out of sight and that meant we had hours to go until the sun rose. As soon as dawn broke over the horizon Starr would begin to change back but until then, he was a broken werewolf with me hugging him gently. Absentmindedly I created a soft blanket to lay over us both and settled back to watch the stars.

*

Time dragged by far too slowly for my liking but eventually a golden dawn was rising over the horizon. I stepped away from Starr, who had thankfully fallen asleep, and watched as his bones clicked back into place, fur receded into his skin and muscles rippled back to a more human structure. Slowly the long snout and grey whiskers were a human nose and smooth skin. Brian was back with only a black blanket covering his slumbering form. 

"Hey," I said, unsure of how to wake him lest I got scratched or yelled at. Brian moaned and then stretched, wincing as the pain in his broken leg made itself present.

"What did I do?" he asked sleepily.

"Fell off a cliff twice," I replied, standing up. "And killed Bill."

"What? How?" Brian became more alert and sat up, his eyes still holding traces of yellow as he glared at me angrily. "I told you-"

"I know," I interrupted, taking a cautious step backwards. "And it was his own fault, in a way. You fell off the cliff together and Delta saved you."

"Delta? Who's Delta?"

"Tobi's best friend."

"Why were two teenagers here? Why was Bill here?"

"They heard the howling."

"Who else did?"

"Probably all of England, to be honest."

Brian groaned and buried his head in his hands. I leaned forwards and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"They don't know it was you," I said. "If that helps. Only Tobi, Delta and I. And dead Bill."

"People are going to notice that Bill's dead," Brian pointed out.

"And they'll assume the werewolf tore him to shreds," I responded. "His body's probably been carried away by the sea anyway."

"What happened to my leg?" 

"I'm not sure. You broke it but I didn't see how."

"Was it just after I fell off the cliff with Bill?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. I think he did it." Brian thought hard and rubbed his nose. "I can remember blurry things but not much. He... yeah. He grabbed my leg and snapped it like a twig. Were you a dog?"

"How else was I going to keep you in check?" I said with a smile. Brian smiled back with a roll of his eyes and went to stand up. I stopped him by covering him in shadows and lights so that he couldn't see.

"Shaade! Get them off!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, you're not wearing anything," I said calmly, retracting the shadows and looking at Brian's magic outfit approvingly. "But now you are."

"Thanks," Brian said grudgingly. He went to move again but paused. "How am I going to get back to Nightmare?"

"Easy," I said, using shadows to pick him up and then swirled more around us so that we were carried up to our room. I misjudged it a little bit and ended up facing the wall having taken longer than usual to get there but I didn't mind. I spun around and put Brian down on the bed, relieved to find that Tobi and Delta had brought up a first aid kit. After a cursory scan of the room for hiding people I opened the first aid kit, took out some bandages and plaster materials and got to work setting Brian's broken bone with some added magical help.