Helix

Night

24 AD

As the fire slowly dimmed Helix listened to the sounds around him. He could not seem to sleep, no matter how exhausted he felt. Eslein, in spite of her calm words also seemed to be awake, her breathing light and uneven, changing pace with whatever she was pondering. The smells rolling off her shifted and changed as well. Though something pungent, that made Helix anxious over shadowed the lighter changes.

Maybe that is what suspicion smells like?

The world around him seemed so much bigger, richer, then it ever had before. It was almost frightening how much he could see, hear and smell. Let alone the new 'feelings' he couldn't figure out how to define.

Helix let his mind wander until night melted into dawn. Sometime shortly before first light, Eslein had fallen into an uneasy sleep. Standing, he marveled at how silent his paws could move. It was effortless, and disconcerting. Moving away from the camp he again went hunting. The memory of the rabbits blood and fur in his mouth, still made him want to gag. Nonetheless he scented the air. Deer was close. So was rabbit, birds and... Helix sniffed again. This was a smell he had not caught yesterday.

Using caution, he followed the new scent. A half mile later brought him to a strange sight. Four soldiers, men Helix recognized from the legion he'd marched into the forest with, surrounded an unfamiliar man. He was naked and tied upright to a thick tree. He was, snarling?

In a rush Helix placed him, it was the man who had attacked during the battle, after he had become this, wolf. A strange feeling of possession pulled a quiet growl from deep in his throat. The four soldiers did not hear, but the naked mans head snapped up quickly, eyes searching the brush until they locked onto Helix.

"You did this!" His shriek was half anger and half sob.

The four soldiers drew back slightly, one recovered quickly and slapped him.

"Told you he was off his rocker as well as... unnatural."

"Irrelevant, how do we kill it?" This one sounded frantic. "I ran him through twice! He barely slowed down. If it wasn't for that Alexa woman distracting him he'd have killed me. The sucker even bit my leg!"

Recovering from the slap, the stranger sought Helix's gaze again, making his instincts scream, body tense with the sensations coursing through it. He felt instantly irritated and challenged by the stare, next to that feeling, was the desire to protect this complete stranger.

"Let's try burning him."

The naked mans eyes flicked to the speaker, terror glinting. Helix could not force himself to wait any longer. A howl ripped from him as he sprang down the hill and into the circle of soldiers. His back was to the bound stranger, his fangs and attention on the recoiling soldiers. One cursed, another cried out in fear, they all drew their weapons.

With nothing to loose Helix snarled, and to his surprise spoke, "You will not touch him!

Three attacked while the other fled in terror. Helix dove aside, narrowly missing the descending steel. His mind raced as he took stock of the situation. Avoiding the swords would be easy enough, attacking the men holding them, with only his body and teeth as weapons, was going to be much harder. For a bit he just dodged them, slowly drawing them away from the bound man.

One of the soldiers seemed to realize what was happening and suddenly reeled backwards, his sword sung through the air, finishing in a sickening thud as it severed the bound mans head. The thick coppery smell of blood filled Helix's nose. Rage filled him.