Treaty Bound

Chapter 10: The Monster Within

   I breathed a sigh of relief when the hard edges of the cart materialized again in the curves of gray and black. Part of me had been sure that I would never be able to find it again without the sharp nose of the wolf. My sense of smell may have been far greater than it had been before the change but it was still nothing compared to the wolf's.

   I crept closer to the camp carefully watching where I placed each step, trying to make the least amount of sound possible. I was no wolf though and no matter how careful I was dried leaves crunched beneath my feet. I had made no less noise sneaking away from Luke and the others but that had seemed quiet before I had heard how silent the wolf's steps could be. I was also not worried about the wolves killing and eating me if I had woken one, something that was a real possibility now.

   That thought had surprised me and I stopped walking. Did I really not fear the wolves anymore? I pushed the thought aside, for now, and kept creeping forward. I would have plenty of time to think about that on my run back to them.

   By the time I reached the edge of the ogres camp, I was not sure what would wake the ogres first, the crunching of the leaves beneath my feet or the pounding of my heart in my chest. Each beat sounded like a drum being struck inside my ears. The rhythm of the beat only increased when I saw the camp clearly for the first time. The cart was sitting in the middle of a small clearing only a few paces from where I stood. Lying all around the cart head to foot in a circle were the four huge ogres. There was no way to get to the cart without stepping through the leaves around one of the ogre's huge heads.

   I looked to the cart to see if I even needed to bother trying to sneak around them. If the old woman had already been eaten for dinner then there was no reason to risk my life. I felt immeasurably guilty by this thought but the wolf found it to be reasonable and for some reason, I found that reassuring.

   The ogres had not built a fire to light their camp like we had so I was limited to the grays and blacks of my night vision. The dark metal of the bars blended and overlapped making the cage seem like one large black square. I saw no movement or even the gray of her hair in the darkness and my stomach twisted. I was sure she was gone and feeling like I was about to lose the small amount of boar I had managed to eat, I turned to leave.

   That is when I saw them, two small dots of light reflected in the darkness. I stopped my body already half-turned to leave and stared at the spot. Small frail hands appeared out of seemingly nowhere to pull back what must have been a hood because now I could see her gray hair glowing in the moonlight like a beacon. She was staring right at me and I could not see any fear in her eyes or even excitement at the chance to be rescued. She stared at me calmly as if she had been expecting me all this time.

   Taking a deep breath to still my nerves I stepped out into the clearing and when nothing happened I took another step. An ogre's head was so close to me now that I could have kicked it if I had wanted too. The wolf really wanted to but I ignored him as I took another step placing my foot above its bald wrinkled head. The leaves crunched beneath my barefoot as I slowly shifted my weight onto it. Looking down into its face I held my breath and waited for any sign that it had heard me. Several long seconds passed before I let the breath out in relief when the ogre did not stir.

   My heartfelt like it was going to tear from my chest as I lifted my other foot high and moved it over his face to place it on the ground right next to his ear. Again the leaves crackled underfoot and I held my breath expecting the eyes to open and look up at me before grabbing me and tearing me in half. The ogre did not move at all though and I took another breath as I took my last step and was finally at the cage.

   I looked up at the old woman who still sat motionless in the dark corner of her prison. She smiled at me in the way a parent might when they are proud of you for doing a good job. It made me feel slightly calmer as my hands slid over the rough metal, pitted, and rusted with age looking for what I needed. These old carts used to be made in two pieces, the cage, and the cart. When they were both done a horse attached to a system of ropes and pulleys lifted the heavy metal cage into the air. The cart was then rolled under the cage and it was lowered into place. The weight of the metal and the iron would be enough to keep any humans or fey from escaping. Later, when they were used to hold werewolves and vampires four pins had been used to secure the cage to the cart so that they could not simply lift the cage and leave when they chose to.

   I am sorry, I am probably boring you with my knowledge of old carts. Anyway, I found the first pin and putting both thumbs against it I pushed with all my strength. The pin rusted from years of neglect resisted at first and then suddenly gave way. It shot out of the hole hitting the ground and tumbled end over end in the leaves stopping someplace on the other side of the cart that I could not see. I closed my eyes and waited to die.

   I thought my knees would give out at any second and I grabbed the bars to steady myself. My hands were shaking so violently that they rattled the cage but the sound was nothing compared to the racket the pin had made so I didn't bother moving them. Each breath came faster and faster as if my lunges were trying to match the speed of my beating heart.

   The wolf, who had been silent since the change, was suddenly back in my mind. He was relaxed, not at all afraid that he was about to be eaten by ogres or of them at all really. He didn't say anything but I felt a calm wash over me and I started to slightly relax. My heart was still racing but my breathing started to slow and I opened my eyes. The old woman was still looking at me with an approving smile. The ogres still lay sleeping on the ground around me.

   After breathing deeply and then slowly and quietly letting the air out, I felt stable enough to release the bars. My hands still shaking thumped against the metal as I felt around for the second pin and found it. Only pressing one thumb to the pin this time I pushed and the pin slid free and dropped into my open palm. Now it was time to see if a werewolf really could single-handedly lift a cage that a single horse could not lift without a pulley system to lessen the weight. Placing both hands on the bars I bent my knees and was about to push with everything I had before stopping. I had already made the mistake of underestimating my strength once tonight and I was not about to test my luck by doing it again.

   Slowly I pushed on the bars and when nothing happened I pushed harder. When still nothing happened I pushed even harder using my legs and arms together to put the least amount of strain on my back, just like my father had taught. With a groan, the cage began to lift up away from the floor of the cart but not nearly enough for the old woman to fit through. I, we, had come too far to fail now, and holding in a grunt I put everything I had into lifting the cage just the few more inches she needed.

   Without a sound, the old woman slipped beneath the opening and without a word of thanks stepped quietly around the ogre and disappeared off into the woods the way I had come from. I wanted to chase after her and make sure she was alright but I couldn't just drop the cage. Slowly I lowered it into place and not bothering to replace the pins I stepped around the ogre's head. My heart was still racing but I had already done it once and if the pin tumbling through the leaves didn't wake the sleeping ogres I was more confident that my steps would go unnoticed.

   Once I was free to move without the fear of waking the sleeping giants I was quickly able to catch up to the old woman. She was moving fast for someone who looked as old as she did but still an old woman could only move so fast. She had picked up an old branch from the ground and was using it rather effectively as a cane.

   "Are you ok?" I asked

   She spun around swinging the stick at me and hissed "Get away from me, werewolf!"

   Stepping back from the swing I put my hands in the air trying to show her that I meant her no harm. "I just want to make sure you are alright. Do you think you can make it to someplace safe before they wake up and find out you are gone?"

   "You think I don't know that your kind likes to eat little old ladies just as much as those brutes do? You stay away from me or I will—I will scream till they come eat us both!"

   I stepped back a few more paces out of shock more than any fear of her threat. I could see the fear in her eyes when she spoke and knew she meant what she said. "But—but I just saved you, why would you think that I—why would you do that?"

   "One monster stealing from another is all that was," she spat with so much hatred and fear that for the first time I truly accept what I had really already known, I was a monster.

   Everyone I had ever known or loved would look at me with the same fear and hatred in their eyes as this old woman did now. I understood then that I could never go back to Glen Haven. I would never again work the forges at my father's shop, or stop in the Angry Ox on my way home to hear Krysta singing. I no longer even had a home or family to go home too.

   I sighed and pointed to the northeast towards the village that was no longer my home. "If you go in that direction for a day, possibly two, you will come to a village called Glen Haven. My father is the village blacksmith. You will find him at his shop, a large stone building with a sign over the door that reads bar blacksmithing. Tell him that his son Bryan Roberts sent you and he will give you food, shelter, and help you find your way home," I paused for a minute not sure if I should say this next part and then decided it could not do any more harm. "If it's not too much trouble could you let them know what happened to me and tell them that I love them and that I am alright?"

   I do not know if it was what I said or if she heard the sadness I felt in my voice but she lowered her stick slightly and nodded. "If I make it to your village I will pass on your message to your family,' her voice sounding weak and tired for the first time.

   Even then she did not trust me enough to completely lower her stick to the ground and continue her escape until I had moved far enough away from where she stood to be out of her sight. Her eyes were old though and I was not so far away when I turned to watch her walk off in the direction I had pointed. She was quick for an old woman with a cane but part of me knew the ogres would most likely find her when they woke in a few hours. Still, I had at least given her a chance and just maybe she would give my father and mother some peace.