Killing On Command

Chapter 14

Zach

I wasn't looking forward to staying in the tunnels under the town - which I now had to call my home. In fact, I despised the idea of staying under the ground at all, but I had no choice in the matter. After the attack failed, I'd been waiting in the Infirmary for the treatment I'd needed. It was hardly what I wanted; I'd have preferred to let the wounds heal on their own.

The place we, as Lupines, lived in was an ancient Dwarven fortress. Built within a large natural cavern hundreds of metres under the ground, we were safer than anybody else in the kingdom. The walls had been carved with ancient Dwarven runes, some of which I could read, and others that looked more ancient in origin, and the halls held long dark oak tables with benches for eating feasts and drinking. Not only was the place eerie and uncomfortable, but the main light source was from the falls of molten rock which fell into the abyss below the hall, and flowed down the walls behind a thick layer of reinforced glass and a magic field. It was hot down here, and there was no place for the heat to escape other than to the surface, where there was only one way to reach. 

One of the main reasons we were so safe was simply because of the entrance to our fortress. A hundred foot drop greeted those who stumbled upon the cave unknowingly, and almost no mortal had ever survived the fall. Ladders, although rickety, were placed down the drop, and a discrete dirt slope around the edge of the hole gave passage to us on our way down. That being said, I had fallen down on my first journey down here, and almost broke my legs. Had it not been for my Lupine reflexes, I'd have broken all of my limbs, and there would be no chance of me surviving the drop in the slightest.

I still felt awful for the events of that fateful night. The fact that Alex had attacked me refused to file in my stack of horrible memories for about a week, and I still couldn't understand why she had took their side over mine - her best friend. Although Serena hadn't left my side since I'd been admitted here, I felt more alone and hurt than ever, and I blamed myself for it. Even Stout had come to check up on me, given the fact that he carried me half of the way home. Considering his age, I was being careful around him, and I began to look out for him and his family as well as Grogg, who I hadn't seen since the day of the attack.

It was noon at this point, and I couldn't stay in bed any longer. The Infirmary was far from sterile, and I couldn't stand being around the crying woman in the bed to my left (Having just given birth to a litter of 8 puppies, she'd been under the weather from the moment she lay in the bed).

"Going somewhere, Pup?" Serena asked me, placing a hand boisterously on my shoulder. I smirked and knocked it off, pushing her a little and laughing.

"Yeah, I need some air, I thought I'd go and sit by the river for a while..." I told her, trailing off as I began walking at the same pace as she was. She nodded and smiled. She was a pretty girl, although I never really took note of it before.

"Can I join you, or would you prefer to be alone?" She asked. She was still recovering from the bites on her neck, although mine had already healed. I shrugged before pausing.

"You can come if you'd like, but I'll warn you that I like to sit and be with my thoughts sometimes..." I admitted. She smiled and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. She sent shivers down my spine as she touched me. I didn't like it, it was as though she had just plunged a blade through my arm, and I flinched, shrugging her off.

We'd been sat by the river for about an hour; talking about our lives and generally getting to know each other better. Serena was an orphan. Adopted by Stout shortly after her birth, she'd grown up around the Lupines and had always had the best her family could give her; although it wasn't much. As she spoke, I saw Alex sat in her place, telling me about her Mother and what she thought she was like, and how much she missed her although they'd never met. It broke my heart to hear Alex cry as a kid, and it was breaking again as I heard Serena's story.