Fated Enemies

Chapter 9 - Werewolves

After what she had seen the night before, it was with relief that she saw Jax came to her, early in the morning, frightened, it took her some time to calm it down and grab it when she succeeded she rode it and kept a jog, not wanting to know how competitive Edwin felt about showing that vampires were better than werewolves, but she had slept badly after the sighting of the creatures last night and all that entailed.

Night Soldiers were creatures conjured by a powerful human-made spell, their only function was to hunt the mystics, whether they were Vampires or Werewolves, although they did not see well they had excellent qualities in other senses, had the smell of vampires, and the hearing of a werewolf, the speed of a vampire allied with the agility of a werewolf and to make matters worse, if the books were correct, they had poison in the claws that immobilized and in the teeth, the same venom as a vampire and the only way to kill a creature like there was with the bite of a natural werewolf.

Whoever created these creatures knew each of the two races intimately, knew how difficult it was to have a Natural Werewolf, and demanded that the element of the Royal Family expose itself directly to the danger and there was a great chance that the werewolf would lose, in her case leaving a kingdom without a leader and without offspring, to make matters worse, Edwin would be around if she had to face the creature, which made it all the more imperative that Alexa relied on him to give him the volume she had in her bag.

Thinking about Edwin sent her to the night before, when he'd wrapped her arm around her to raise her to the tree, away from the danger, she could not tell if it was instinct or some other reason. She would ask him and tell him what he knew about the creatures, she had not heard about the creatures for years, and for them to walk freely, it meant that the humans were afraid, even so far west, everything pointed out that the location they had defined would be where they would find the majority of the answers.

She saw Edwin leap from tree to tree in front of her, leaning over the thick neck of the horse and patting him tenderly, she spoke to it:

- Jax my beautiful, follow the vampire, yes! If I fall asleep, follow him! - As if the horse had sensed what its rider was saying, shook its head and whinnied. Alexa laughed at her foolishness. - Beautiful boy.

Alexa eventually fell asleep in the saddle, small moments at a time, when she opened her eyes, moments after closing them, to see Edwin jump to another tree, a movement indistinguishable to the human eye, even to her eyes, a shadow. When the night was about to arrive Edwin woke her from one of the moments when she had let herself sleep:

- Are you crazy? - He growled, rage present in his voice.

Alexa shook her head to banish the sleepiness, and Edwin continued his rebuke:

- In unknown territory, on top of a horse! Do you feel like dying? If one of those things suddenly appeared you would be easy prey! What if the horse got scared and started to run taking you with him or worse, causing you to fall!

Alexa looked at him, not knowing what to say about his anger, her sharp tongue came to the surface:

- Then you would get rid of me! Just how you wanted from the beginning! - Alexa knew it was the lack of rest, talking for herself.

- Yes! And the Vampires were guilty of letting the Queen of Zulcan die! Do not even think about it!

Alexa dismounted looked at Edwin with a rage from the lack of sleep and his wolf wanted to emerge:

- Jax is smarter than a normal horse, would not let me fall, and as for scaring itself, it's not that easy, it's been trained by the time its rider is on the top it issues a warning instead of running. And if this were to happen, if other creatures appeared, you were only a few meters ahead, surely you would catch us very quickly!

- I'll get some firewood! Let's set up camp! - Edwin said, just to have an excuse to move away, the anger still bubbling inside him, Alexa could say that through his eyes.

- I will hunt! - She said, pulling the bow from her back, talking to no one, since Edwin had already disappeared.

After supper, Alexa stared into the fire, thinking of everything she was going to do next, a sigh came out of her mouth when she concluded, not the best, but an act of faith and trust. The sigh did not go unnoticed to Edwin who stared at her, still with some anger in his eyes:

- There are some things I did not mention yesterday about the Night Soldiers.
Edwin's head snapped toward her with his lips a thin line of concern, his brown eyes worried and unbelieving at the same time.
Sensing Edwin's attention to herself, Alexa continued:

- According to the Legends books and what I remember, the Night Soldiers are creatures conjured by a human-made spell, that brought together the best parts of vampires and werewolves, and are extremely difficult to kill. They are quick as vampires and agile as werewolves, but that is not the worst. The claws carry a poison that paralyzes and the fangs the same venom that transforms a human into a vampire, being extremely lethal to werewolves. The only way to kill this creature is with the bite of a natural werewolf.

Alexa took a deep breath, waiting for Edwin to comment.

- So glad you're here! - He commented with a smug smile on his face, making Alexa sigh at the worst part of the conversation that would follow.

- With all the attributes, even with the whole wolf form is extremely difficult to kill, which can leave a kingdom without a leader, was the intent in creating these creatures, in any way is a loss!

- Glad you're not alone! - Remarked Edwin.

- Oh, but your presence also indicates a risk! With the total shape of the wolf I can't control the rivalries of blood ... - Alexa looked up at the sky as if waiting for divine intervention to stop her from doing what she was about to do, seeing that it didn't come, Alexa continued. - That's why I want you to keep this! - She said, reaching for the purse with the thin silver and sapphire collar - This is from the Royal Zulcan's Family and is one of our best-kept secrets! - She said, tossing the bag to Edwin.

He watched as he examined what was in his hands:

- A leash?! - He demanded bewildered, not understanding what this had to do with the conversation.

-Yes. That is the only thing that can suppress the wolf, make me turn back to human form involuntarily! However, it has to be placed on the shape of the wolf and has to be removed quickly after the human form is reached. The collar drains vital forces to function and if it lingers for too long it leads to death!

- And you're trusting me? - He asked, distraught.

- I have no choice! I have to trust you, or my transformation can mean your death and therefore a war that I am trying to avoid at all costs! - Alexa's gaze was fierce and showed a strength of iron and fire.

To avoid saying anything else, she turned his back on Edwin and straightened up to sleep. But her head was still spinning over what she had done, thinking of all the ways it could go wrong, how the collar could be used to harm her and her kingdom.