The Year of Redemption

Chapter 20: War

Dean couldn't sleep. He was too cold – and he was too alone, but he wasn't going to dwell on that fact. He climbed out of his sleeping bag and wrapped Castiel's trench coat around himself, then grabbed the knife from under his pillow and stepped out of the tent. Their fire had gone out and was just coals now. Their wet clothes were still laying on rocks to dry out. But Cas was nowhere in sight.

"That damn angel," Dean muttered. He was just about to sit down next to the fire when he heard a rustling sound in the underbrush behind the tent. He brandished the knife and crept around the tent. A dark shape suddenly took off into the woods. Dean ran after it, but couldn't catch up. He stopped in a clearing to catch his breath and looked around. There were no signs that the unknown figure had gone down this way. Dean sighed, bending over with his hands on his knees and silently listened.

A branch cracked behind him, and Dean spun around, holding up the knife. A form emerged from the woods into the clearing and began to approach the hunter. Dean tensed, then recognized the distinctive features of Castiel's face as the angel came closer and stood in front of him.

"Shhh," Cas whispered, resting his hand on Dean's still-tense grip on the knife.

Dean lowered his hand and relaxed his grip. "I didn't recognize you without your coat," he whispered teasingly.

"Someone seems to be very intent on using it at the moment," Cas commented, eyeing Dean, who was still wearing the trench coat. The angel then reached around Dean's knife and into the coat. His hand brushed up against Dean's side, and Cas rolled his eyes slightly when Dean jumped at the unexpected physical contact. Castiel worked his hand underneath the coat's layers until he found an object stashed somewhere inside and retrieved it.

"When you're done pulling things out of your little Mary Poppins bag of never-ending tricks, would you mind telling me what exactly we're hunting here?" Dean asked as Castiel brandished the knife he had pulled out of the coat and turned around, facing the woods again.

"I'm not sure," the angel replied, "but hopefully these will work," he said, gesturing to their knives. They heard another rustling sound somewhere in the trees. Both of them scanned the woods. A sound came from the trees in front of Cas, then another came from in front of Dean. The angel and the hunter heard the sounds moving, circling around and around the clearing, safely hidden just behind the trees.

Dean and Cas stood back-to-back in the middle of the clearing, both holding their knives at the ready. A dark figure emerged from the woods in front of Dean and bolted towards him. It was suddenly upon the hunter, and Dean slashed out with the knife, leaving a gash on the creature's bare chest. It whimpered and retreated back into the forest. Dean looked down at his hand. When he had reached out to cut it, one of the monster's claws had made contact with Dean's skin, forming a relatively deep scratch on the back of his hand.

"Wendigo," Dean spat, wiping the blood from his hand onto Castiel's coat. Another creature appeared in front of Cas and lunged towards the angel. Castiel stabbed at the monster, sending it running back into the forest.

Dean suddenly bent down and began carving symbols into the dirt on the ground. He made a ring of symbols around Cas, then joined the angel in the middle of them. "Anasazi," he explained, "It should keep them at a safe distance."

Another pair of wendigos emerged from the forest and raced towards them. The monsters stopped just outside the ring of sigils that Dean had drawn, but they stayed in the clearing, just circling around. Dean stabbed at one, and it jumped back before the knife could make contact. Four more wendigos came out of the forest and began circling around Dean and Cas as well.

"Damn, there's a whole pack. Bad day to forget your flare gun," Dean observed. Then he winced and grabbed his wounded hand, a wave of nausea overtaking him. Castiel felt Dean's weight leaning more heavily against his back. The angel turned around quickly, grabbing Dean's arms to hold him up.