The Fox and The Wolf: A Tale of Modern Magic

Chapter 12 - Death

The rotund man in the white animal services van spotted the wolf easily. He had never seen one so bold, it was walking right along the edge of the highway like it had no fear of humans. He slowed down and drove along beside it for a while.

Already dreading the paperwork, Howard sped up to get about a kilometer lead on the wolf. He carefully pulled the van to the side of the road and flipped on his hazard lights. 

"Come on," he said to his partner.

Howard got out the driver's side door and his partner, Benjy, got out on the passenger side.

Benjy casually screwed together the pieces of the tranquilizer rifle, and began to line up the sight. Howard went around to the back of the van to get the net.

Benjy took aim. The wolf  was coming into the ideal range. He just had to wait for the perfect shot...

Suddenly the wolf was a blur. Benjy lost sight of it. He raised the rifle.

"Where did it go?" he asked.

Howard screamed in reply.

The wolf moved with such unnatural speed that it seemed to suddenly appear attached to Benjy's neck. It tore out his throat, snarling and drooling. Then it was a blur again, moving so fast it was almost invisible.

Howard began to flee the moment he had a sense of what was happening. He ran faster than he thought he was capable of. His movements were fueled by the Adrenalin screaming in his brain. In doing so he was able to buy himself almost one full additional second of life. The wolf was upon him before he knew what happened.

As Howard's body lay on the ground, steam rising from the wounds, the wolf stood up on its hind legs. It's legs and arms elongated just as its snout retreated into its face and its fur disappeared. In a matter of moments the beast was Simon Isengrim. He could still taste the blood in his mouth.

Simon wiped the blood remaining around his lips with his hand and licked it off. He felt a flicker of puissance running through the stuff. Simon understood what vampires saw in it now. He was going to have to explore the connection between blood and magic later. There were some real possibilities that he had been ignoring out of useless taboo. For the moment he had much more pressing business.

Simon knew better than anyone the extrasensory powers available to whoever controlled the Tower. If he used Space magic to merely step sideways into the city Aubrey would be able to sense it. It wouldn't do at all. The only way to maintain the element of surprise was to physically travel.

Simon didn't mind. He was enjoying himself as a wolf. He had chosen to travel in the form for a while on a lark but it was really growing on him. He figured he would wear it all the way to the city. If he was really lucky they might call in another animal control team. Or the police. 

Once he arrived in the city he would resume his own form and make his way immediately to the Tower. He knew that's where he would find them, the true architects of his betrayal. Gabriel and Harper were necessary sacrifices, but their involvement had been minimal. Simon knew that the real treason came from Jackie, Cicero and especially Aubrey. Lovely Aubrey. If only she had been capable of being worthy of the trust and love he had shown he.  

From a certain point of view Aubrey had done him a favor. She had killed the last part of him that had any value for human life. It was freeing to be able to see thing as they were, unburdened by human sentiment. He had been so limited before. Things like his aversion to blood magic had left him ignorant of paths to power. Aubrey had given him the key to unlock his own true potential. She had broken the chains that bound him. He loved her still for that.

She would still have to die though. She would have to be made an example of. He could not countenance betrayal. That was the ultimate show of weakness. Simon had been too weak for too long. He was going to reassert his strength. Remind the city who her master was.

Once he had finished testing the blood on his human taste buds, enjoying every subtlety of the flavors in a way that he couldn't in the unfamiliar beast's mouth, Simon transformed back into a wolf. He hunched back over, fur exploding across his body, his face growing out into a snout.

Now fully a wolf he began to run along the highway, back towards Toronto.

An old couple driving down the highway spotted the wolf.

"It's a wolf!" exclaimed Karen. "It's a wolf Brian! Right beside the highway. Someone ought to call animal control."

"I'm driving. I have to keep my eyes on the road," said Brian. He steadfastly didn't take his eyes off the road for even a moment. He didn't move his hands form ten and two. 

"I'm calling animal control," announced Karen, dialing her phone.

Brian didn't look over. He kept his eyes plastered to the road. Hand at ten and two.