The Wolf in Me

Chapter 22.1: Ethan and Daron

Ethan POV

I was pushed into a dark cell deep beneath the castle, there I was kept chained for almost a week. I was treated like an animal there but still they gave me good food to eat, it seemed like the vampire lord wanted me to grow up into a large wolf so that he could turn me into his soldier. That meant I was not to be released for the next 7 years (at least).

I whined and cried there,  the cell was damp and it was cold and so was the metal chain which was stuck to my feet, and the floor was hard and many times rats came by to eat what I did not. The entire room was like the dumpster of our school, just that there weren't bullies. It was so small that I had barely enough space to stretch without touching the wall (even being as small as I was).

Suddenly two days later, the vampires came to me and took me away chained.

"Where am I going?" I asked.

"Lord Daron has requested that you be shifted to his cell," said the vampire.

"Lord Daron?" I thought, "These vamps here call him 'LORD'? What's the matter with them?"

I was soon pushed into the cell where Daron was, the cell was very royal and warm and there were many things there, light could come into the cell, there was plumbing and even that there was a table and a large soft bed in a corner. Probably it seemed the vampires still respected Daron.

"Daron!" I called out for him as I entered his cell, he was sitting on the bed. I smiled seeing him there but he did not, he was blue and yellow and looked tired and like he was poisoned. I came close to him to see that he had many scars on his face and shirtless body, it seemed as if he had been bitten by the werewolf.

"Hey Daron!" I called him. "Are you fine? Does it hurt?"

"Does it hurt?" He said to me. "Does it hurt? Yeah, of course it hurts. The werewolf bit me, behold hither."

He showed me his hand which was badly deformed, there was a large black scar on his hand. I really was afraid seeing his hand like that.

"By the gods, twas so painful, I bet thee haven't felt such a great pain ere." He said.

"Excuse me," I said, "I AM A WEREWOLF, I was bitten by one a few months ago, I know the pain."

"Oh, I had forgotten that." He said. "Anyways, werewolf venom runs deep into my veins, soon my last magical powers will go away, and after that..."

"Will you become a human?" I asked him.

"I will die!" He said to me. "I am not a man, nor an elf, but something in the middle. My soul is of a dragon and is incompatible with this body, magic is what holds them together. If my magical powers go away, my soul will leave my body and go back to the spirit realm, whereas my body will burn and turn to ash."

"Why did you fight him?" I asked, "Even if you had won, Will would have died, for god's sake that's Alice's older brother you fought, what was I supposed to say to her if you had killed him?"

"That I killed him," said Daron. "Tell her the truth, my father did the same after he killed his best friend's sister who was a witch. Sometimes you have to do what is necessary regardless of how others think."

"You're wise," I said to him. "But I don't think Alice would like you after knowing that you tried to kill her brother."

"Sometimes relationships must be sacrificed for the entire race, my father fought in the civil war, and until the last generation of confederate soldiers died, they hated him."

"WAIT!" I said. "Your father fought in the civil war?? How old was he back then?"

"I...... do not remember, but somewhere around 50 by the time the war began," said Daron.

"So 150 years ago he was 50, and right now that means hes 200 years old," I asked him.

"Yes," said Daron. "But I fail to see why you're....... oh! Now I remember, humans have children by the age of 30 and die at 90. Little Ethan, we live much longer than your regular human does, we have children at the age of 150 and live for 600 or more."

"How come!" I asked.

"We are half-elves, that is how." He said. "But don't worry, I'm 15."

"So....... You can't ask the elves for help now, can you?" I asked him.

"Yes, I can," he said, "But who will tell them? We have no one who can. My magic is failing and so I cannot contact them telepathically and...... wait! You're a werewolf, so why don't you telepathically tell one of your wolves to seek out Cairdaer."

"I can do that?" I asked.

"Well, yes you can." He said, "Close your eyes and think of any wolf of the pack, then ask her to find Cairdaer by the woods outside the forest, there he lives with a few other elves, they will surely help us."

I closed my eyes and said. "My brothers, if you're hearing me, go to the forests outside the town and there search for the elf Cairdaer, tell him we're in trouble."

I prayed and I prayed, but no one picked up the call. I was disappointed.

Suddenly the full moon rose up behind us, and I felt a cringe as I was turning into a werewolf again. Even though I had changed many times, I did not get used to the pain and so I groaned. Daron put his hand on my head and hugged me tightly like an older brother.

"I love you, and I will always be with you," he said and kissed me in my hair.

Suddenly we heard a gate opening, and then Will the Werewolf came at us.

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Don't worry, when draconimus say 'I love you' it means 'I love you like a little brother'. Daron's not gay and there's no such thing as homosexuality in their culture.