Violet Riding Hood

Chapter 10

Vallery and the Wolf

The snowy streets of Swordhorn were deserted as Vallery and Jane escaped together through the darkness, finding nothing but a frozen solitude as the last howls and screams from the battle finally vanished into the night.

Vallery led Jane in their journey through a lonely street after another, but they both were so shocked and terrified that they found themselves unable to find their way home...

"Catherine!" Vallery cried out, shaking from head to feet- "Catherine! Catherine!"

They came to a halt in the middle of a street somewhere at the outskirts of the village, a dark place illuminated only by the purple moon in the sky... There was no answer from Catherine as Vallery's calls echoed in the frozen night all around them, and after that the church bells ringed no more.

"Catherine..."

Vallery broke down in tears and Jane comforted her as best as she could, both of them recalling the awful images that they had just witnessed when the Wolf attacked...

"My mother" Vallery sobbed, hugging her friend- "Jane, it killed my mother..."

They stayed in silence for some time after those words, and even though Jane tried to comfort Vallery, she had no idea what to say to make her feel any better... the image of Susan's head falling to the snow was sharp and terrifying in their minds, and they could still smell the blood like they remained at the scene of all those deaths.

"Vallery, what do you think happened? Do you think the Sage killed it?"

"No, the Wolf took on those magic beams alright" Vallery whispered- "Where is Catherine?"

At that moment Vallery could hear heavy steps behind her, and she could smell that powerful, musky stench as Jane became frozen on the spot... her worst fears were confirmed when a soft growl came after the mysterious sound of steps, and she slowly turned around to face the monster.

The Wolf stared at her from a distance of a yard as its violet eyes glowed in the darkness, and then Vallery's violet eyes glowed as well for a few seconds in answer to the Wolf...

"Indeed" the Wolf growled, advancing another step towards her- "You are the one that I have been looking for, Vallery..."

29-

The Wolf displayed its long and terrible fangs in some kind of wicked smile, and Vallery realized that the monster did not really look like it had just faced Sage Sallyahel in magical battle... its black fur was alright, not burned at all, and there was nothing else in it that suggested any kind of physical trauma.

She could smell the victims blood that remained unburned covering many parts of the Wolf, and beside her, Jane was paralyzed by fear and unable to do anything...

"W-what big teeth you h-have..."

Vallery retreated slowly until she came into contact with the wooden wall of an abandoned house, the monster followed her like a shadow, neither soldiers nor villagers were coming to help and now she was cornered by the Wolf.

There was no way to escape, and she would have only a few minutes left to live...

"Vallery, come with me or I'll destroy this village!"

Vallery realized that her eyes had glowed in answer to the violet eyes of the Wolf, and now the monster was asking her to leave Swordhorn and go with it somewhere else. She wondered for a second what would be the intentions of this creature, what it would really want from her...

She looked up at the Purple Moon in the sky, and then she realized what it was that the Wolf sought.

"I'll never be a Wolf like you" Vallery said, gathering all the courage that she was capable of- "You are a monster, a murderer! You killed my little sister, you have killed my mother tonight..."