Demon Puppet

Chapter 9

Noelle. Noelle. Look at me.

I slowly look up and meet Hero's eyes blazing in the firelight. The wolves never stray far from my side, keeping constant watch on Hero to make sure he does not attempt to escape. I sigh and lay down on the den floor, keeping my eyes on him. Kris growls from the front of the den and trots over, plopping down between us, his massive body blocking Hero's view of me.

I huff. "You're not making this any easier."

That brute deserves some discomfort, Kris harrumphed. I don't like the way he looks at you. Like a snake or something. Something deadly. I'm not surprised you don't trust him.

I hear Hero hiss sharply and shut my eyes tightly, immediately closing my mind to the pack and to him. Hero lurches to his feet, his red eyes glowing ominously. One of the wolves yelps as Hero throws him aside, slamming his ribs into the cavern walls. I yelp as Hero darts forward, moving faster than I could blink, and picks me up. Wings sprout quickly from his back, and he flies upward, pinning me to the roof of the den while the wolves howl and snarl below us.

"What does that mangy flea-bitten ball of fur mean?" Hero snarls, his eyes piercing mine.

"Hero, you're hurting me!" I whimper, trying to wriggle free.I feel something stab at the walls in my mind, and I yelp, throwing up more mental blocks to keep him out. "Hero, stop!"

The probing continues until I feel something snap inside me. A terrifying roar tears through my throat and past my lips, and something within me explodes to the surface. My vision goes red, and I hear a pained grunt. The red starts to fade from my eyes, and I bare my teeth. My knee presses against Hero's chest, forcing him into the ground. I bring my face closer to his and seethe at him. The wolves back away with their tails between their legs, each turning to Kris in confusion as they watch me.

I pin Hero to the ground, bristling, before I realize what I've done. Without looking away from Hero, I feel my face shift back to normal. Whatever possessed me vanished. The red completely dissolves from my eyes, and I pull away, releasing him. I shakily rise to my feet, swaying a bit.

The wolves don't stop me as I turn and run from the den. Hero doesn't come after me, either. The stabbing sensation is gone from my mind, and I'm not sure if I fought it away or transformed because the barriers broke. I'm too frightened of myself to care.

My lungs burn as branches snap beneath my feet. Finally I stop, coughing as tears spill from my eyes. I drop to my knees and lean against the trunk of a giant tree.

What the hell just happened to me? What did he do to me? I hear a babbling brook nearby and look up, furiously brushing tears out of my eyes and crawling towards the sound of the water. I splash some on my face and exhale shakily before my shoulders tremble, and I burst into torrential sobs.

I hear soft footsteps approaching, but I do not turn around or flinch when a warm hand lays on my back. The voice that calls to me surprises me.

"What has happened to you, little Warden? You used to be so feisty..." Kai murmurs.

"I don't know," I whisper, staring at my warped reflection in the water. My eyes are still glowing red from that little episode. "I don't know."

"He is changing you," Kai says, sitting next to me and tossing a pebble into the stream, dissolving the image of my face. "Turning you into something else. Something like him. You don't smell like you used to. You don't act like you used to. You're..." He hesitated, glancing at me, before finishing, "different."

"You have no idea," I grumble, sitting back and flopping onto the tree trunk.

He arches an eyebrow at me. "I think I got the gist of it from that little...whatever that was." He sighs, his brows knitting together in concern. "Little Warden, little Warden... What has he done to you?"

When I do not answer, he huffs and stands up. "Kris has given you permission to roam our territories as long as you do not step outside the perimeter. He assumes you will be able to smell the border when you reach it. If you reach it."

I wrinkle my nose and glance up at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

His lip curves up at the corner, and he winks. "Well, we are wolves. We have to mark our territory somehow."

"Oh—oh, gross!" I groan, shuffling away from him.

He laughs, but it does not reach his eyes quite yet. "We don't know how long we will be able to keep that creature subdued, so don't take too long when you're out here, thinking."

I roll my eyes. "Great, an ultimatum for personal soliloquy. Thanks."

"I'll be close by if you want to find your way back."

Translation: I'll be close by because Kris doesn't want you to be left alone in case you turn into something monstrous, I echo in my mind. Something like...like whatever I just was.

I glance at the brook again and sigh, curling into a ball and hiding my face in my knees.

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"Do you smell that?"

Hongbin looks up at Leo. "Smell what?"

Leo's broken wing flutters slightly. "Wolves. And a lot of them." He closes his eyes and inhales again.

Doll-eyes hesitates before doing the same. His eyes snap open suddenly—he could recognize that scent anywhere. "The pack?" He gasps. "But—you and I—we both saw their bones! We saw their corpses!"

"Apparently, we were mistaken," Leo says drily. He moves forward a bit. "We are just breaching their territory now."

Doll-eyes frowns. "Do you...do you smell anything else?"

Leo glances at him and shakes his head.

"I do," Hongbin murmurs, peering into the woods. A stream flowed past them not twenty feet away. He trudges over to it and kneels, dipping his fingertips into the cool water. His brow furrows. How odd...it almost smells like...like...

He suddenly lurches to his feet and lurches forward, taking off into the trees. Leo does not follow him; instead, he faces forward, his eyes narrowing at the line of glowing wolf eyes that gaze intensely back at him.

Doll-eyes follows the stream, the scent of Noelle growing stronger and stronger. Finally he stops, hesitating. He hears her soft breathing. He smells the blood flowing through her veins—undoubtedly hers, but different somehow. Sharp. Bitter. Not human, but not monster, either. Somewhere caught between.

Tentatively, he moves forward, stepping closer to her. She pauses, realizing he was there. She held her breath. Slowly, she raises her head and gazes at him, her eyes wide with shock. The color drains from her face, and she looks as if she had seen a ghost. Her lips move, but no sound comes out—yet he sees them form his name.

"Noelle," he whispers. His eyes scan her face, and he freezes.

"Noelle..." He repeats, leaping over the stream and yanking her to his chest, stroking her soft hair. His heart pounds in his chest as she collapses in his arms, her knees buckling from beneath her. Silly Warden—I frightened her... She must have fainted... He places her gently at the roots of the giant tree where she had been seated and splashes water onto her face.

"Noelle," he says softly. "Noelle, it's me. Wake up. Wake up, my Warden. Wake up."