They have brought this war to our doorstep like they promised they wouldn’t, and now children will go on without their fathers because of it.
I scream out into the void, and my vision drips with red. I slash left and right, no longer
caring who I hit or what kind of harm I do. These disgusting creatures will get no further. They think us to be rancid, but they’re a plague. A plague that needs to be wiped from the face of the earth. I look up and see a Bear tearing through the woods. I poise my sword, ready to strike at its beating heart.
And then a Wolf gets in front of me and snarls.
“That’s Theo,” Vlad growls. “Calm yourself.”
I watch the Bear leap into the air before he comes crashing down on an Opossum.
My nostrils flare as I look up at Clarissa. A few of the Primals have breached us and they are headed straight for her. Theo is clamoring to get to her and Sebastian is already standing at her side. Vlad takes off, and they all surround her, providing protection for her as much as our village. I watch them slaughter their own. Taking lives and leaving bleeding human bodies on the ground. Every single time they morph into dead humans, it makes me want to retch. The blood dripping from Clarissa’s fangs makes me wonder what in the world I ever saw in her.
How I could have ever convinced myself she was human.
I slash and stab and slice through the few Primals that are lagging behind. They are bloody and hurt and absolutely no match for me. I take them to the ground, pinning them and jamming my sword straight into their heart. No mercy. I will have no mercy on any of them. And if one of those mangy animals turns on me that we’ve been harboring, I’ll kill them as well.
“Joel!”
My ears perk up at the sound of my sister’s voice.
“Joel! The cave!”
I take off in a dead sprint, past the Primals in the middle of the village. They’ve gotten to the cave. To the children. To our secrets. We cannot let them penetrate it. They can’t see what’s inside. They can’t behold the only treasure trove of information that gives us any leverage over their own population.
I leap into the air and bring my sword down into the skull of a Rat, then look up and see Josie fighting her own battle. She’s fighting off a rabid Wolf that is foaming at the mouth. I jam my sword into its ass, staking it and tossing it off to the side. The children are crying, and Josie is sweating, and the nurses are huddling in front of the children to keep their eyes off the carnage.
“Joel, look out!”
I slam my sword around and cut right through the air, slashing the legs off a Bat. Blood is dripping down onto the ground, and its squealing is monstrous. The children don’t need to bear witness to anything like this. I try to push back the Primal army as much as I can from the cave, dragging the fight away from the children.
But I can’t.
They keep coming.
My men are falling, and children are crying. Josie is grunting with every swipe of her sword, and more of the nurses are having to pull knives to protect the children. The number of my men still standing are barricading the entrance to the cave, trying to close off the ones we love and the ones we are trying to protect. Stacking rocks. Rocks encased in lead so they can’t dig at them to get to those we hold most dear to ourselves.
But I can feel myself growing weak. I can feel the sweat soaking the back of my armor. My arm is growing tired, and my fingers are losing their grip.
We need help.
And fast.
Suddenly, Clarissa comes charging through the crowd. Her teeth are gnashing about, digging into the jugulars of the other animals. Her claws are growing longer, and her eyes are more furious. I watch her physically grow as she stands on her haunches and howls. An ear-piercing cry that makes me physically sick, I grimace and turn my head away. I hear the crunching of bones and the tearing of flesh as deadly cries from unsuspecting animals pierce through the treetops. Scattering birds and startling worms and driving our animal food sources deeper into the woods.
We’ll be lucky to ever re-establish ourselves after this.
I look up into Clarissa’s eyes as her Wolfish form is gazing down at me. She cocks her head as her blood-coated fur clings to her massive body, and I see it. Her stomach hanging low with the child growing within her. I raise my hand to try and touch it, but she backs away, growling and snarling as her nostrils flare.
I raise my sword, ready to attack at a moment’s notice before Vlad jumps in front of me.
“Don’t you dare,” he growls.
Theo and Sebastian come and stand at her side. Clarissa and her men, and not one of them is me. It will always be her against us. Us against them. Humans and Primals will never be able to coexist, this much I know now. I drop my sword and take a breath, watching as Clarissa backs down.
And it isn’t until she backs down that the rest of them do as well.
“This isn’t finished,” Sebastian growls. “I can hear more coming from the woods.”