Legacy of Kail - Chapter 10

It was the day after the attack on the village, and night-time had come once again. Salomon knew he had to act fast. The two humans had been suspicious of him, and if they convinced Ylva to let them investigate his testing room, they would find damning evidence. He needed to get to Siegfried while he could. He had managed to sneak into the room that the injured Siegfried was resting in. He held a vial with him that would secure his plan. It was the updated version of his serum. The only problem was… he wasn’t sure how well it would work. The first serum worked well enough, but for the modified version he should have to prepare the person’s body first. But for now it would have to do. If he could bring Siegfried under his control then he could fix any problems later. He moved over to the bed and whispered the words of a spell to keep Siegfried asleep. Then he pulled back the covers.

Siegfried wasn’t there. Instead there was a human. The tall, dark haired human who always kept one of his eyes hidden was there where Siegfried should have been, sound asleep thanks to Salomon’s spell.

 “It is true then.” came Siegfried’s voice. Salomon quickly chanted a spell to create a small light in his hand. Standing at the back of the room was Siegfried, bandaged up due to his missing arm. If only he hadn’t been quick-thinking enough to cut his own arm off, he would already be infected and under Salomon’s control. Also standing there was the white-haired human, as well as…. Ylva. Salomon’s heart sunk.

“I didn’t want to believe it…” she said. “But it really was you after all wasn’t it?” she asked. “We all thought you were working day and night on a cure… but instead it’s you that caused all of this isn’t it?”

“Believing what the humans say?” Salomon asked, his mind working fast to try to make an excuse. “I didn’t do this! I’ve… made an antidote. I thought it’d be best to give this to Siegfried just in case he was infected.” he said, brandishing the vial, thinking on the spot.

“How about you let us look into your secret room before you give him that, then?” Kail asked.

“We’ve caught you in the act, doctor.” Ylva said, her expression stern.

“Don’t believe them.” Salomon pleaded. “Look, Siegfried, just take this, just in case. Honestly!” he said, but he knew he was in trouble.

“The animals were afflicted with a disease.” Kail said, stepping forward, sword in his hand. “The animals attacked and infected some of the people here, causing them to become ill and increasingly violent. But they didn’t turn into werewolves… Until Soxolfr reached out to the other tahkean tribes for help, help for this unknown disease. That’s when you turned up and starting caring for the patients. It was only after you took them in that they turned. There have only been werewolves since you came here. In fact… over time the disease that had afflicted the animals disappeared. Then a human girl wondered into the forest. You found out about this because you can control the werewolves that roam the forest, right? I don’t know how, but they’re under your control. You found her, kidnapped her, and started experimenting. You wanted to infect Siegfried, to make some sort of super monster, I guess, but the monsters you’ve already made weren’t strong enough to infect him for you. So you experimented on this girl, creating a new type of werewolf that could pierce Siegfried’s flesh. This is the werewolf that he came across last night during the attack. I found the girl in your secret room, and when I did a werewolf conveniently attacked me and Kin at the time, so we couldn’t get to her. By the time we killed it, you had taken the girl and gone. Then you transformed her and set her after Siegfried.” Salomon was starting to panic. Had he really worked all of that out? “And because you realised I was on your tail… so to speak… you thought you’d take a chance and try to infect Siegfried now, before we caught you. Am I right?” Kail finished. Siegfried had also stepped forward, his metal spear held ready. Salomon sighed.

“So what?” he asked. “Even if you know now, you can’t stop me. The disease that spread through the animals was my doing as well by the way. A simple but effective disease that spreads fast, it causes animals to become violent and infect each other… but it wears off after a while. I just needed some of the people in this village to get infected, so I, who have made a name finding and curing these diseases, could get here, and already have the trust I needed… This village has been a good testing ground… all to perfect this.” he said, brandishing the vial.

“Why?” Ylva asked. “Why are you doing all this? My… mother… my grandfather… Why did they have to die for you to… what? Create some horrible disease that turns people into monsters?”

“There is no need to answer you…” Salomon answered. He’d have to use the serum while he could and infect Siegfried that way. He uncorked the vial and drank it.

*

“No!” Kail shouted, stepping forward. He was too late. Salomon immediately started coughing and grasping at his throat. His body contorted and his limbs swelled, gruesomely growing larger as his skin stretched to keep up and hair sprouted all over his body, while his clothes ripped apart. He was becoming much larger than any they had fought so far. He had already grown bigger than Torbjorn.

“We need to move outside!” Ylva shouted. Kail took a step towards Salomon, realising that Kin was still on the bed behind him, but he couldn’t see a way through. The monster Salomon was turning into violently swiped around it with claws that had already turned into deadly weapons. It stepped towards them and they had to leave or be eviscerated by its claws.

They moved outside and Ylva effortlessly jumped over to a separate platform, as did Siegfried, even though he had his spear in his one hand. He landed gracefully onto his feet. Kail just looked at them, realising he couldn’t jump far enough to follow. So, instead, he moved along the platform away from the entrance and waited with his sword held high.

Its head emerged from the room. Even its horns had changed, splitting in different directions like the horns of a stag. It roared a roar unlike the others. It didn’t sound so bestial, but instead more… demonic. Kail couldn’t think of a more fitting word. It didn’t sound like it was from this world.

Kail brought his sword down, making sure not to get blocked by the horns, and his sword cut into the monster’s head. It didn’t slice very far though. Like the werewolves he had fought before, it seemed to have an incredibly tough body. His strike did interrupt its roar though. It turned its head slowly to Kail, growling threateningly. As he watched he noticed saliva dripping from its mouth onto the wood below. When the saliva touched the wood it started to sizzle and Kail realised it was burning the wood as if it was acid. Then the monster pulled back into the room, almost taking Kail’s sword with it, and an arm came out to try to grab at Kail. He retreated further along the platform and watched as its claws sunk into the wood as if it was clay. He could hear it struggling against the doorway as it tried to get out of the room. It was too big, luckily. Then it withdrew its arm and Kail advanced again to see its head remerge. It bit at the doorway and its saliva burned away at it, allowing it to easily tear a chunk free. Its saliva dripped down, burning away at more of the wood, and the creature burst its way through. Kail noticed something unusual then. It was bleeding from its mouth.

Then a horn sounded. Kail looked to see that Siegfried had blown it. It was the same sound Kail had heard when the werewolves had attacked the night before. The sound, however, also drew the attention of the monster.

“Its saliva is acid! Don’t let it touch you!” Kail shouted to them. The monster then roared in their direction, sending bits of saliva and blood from its mouth flying towards them. Ylva jumped to safety. Siegfried, however, jumped away with his spear still in hand, and couldn’t grab onto the tree he was heading towards. He slammed into it shoulder first and fell down into the darkness below. The monster turned back to Kail.

Its arms were abnormally long, although there wasn’t anything normal about its body. Certain bones like its ribs jutted out as if they were too big to be contained inside its body. As saliva dripped down its body it burnt at it. It seemed like it wasn’t resistant to its own acidic spit. It took a step towards Kail but there was a flash of light and ice crawled up its legs, freezing it in its tracks. It looked down then turned its head to the side, as if trying to see behind it. Then its tail whipped around and grabbed hold of something. Kail watched in disbelief as it brought Kin from behind it, firmly held with its tail, and held him over the surely fatal drop below.

“Well… this doesn’t look too good.” Kin said, looking to Kail and offering a shrug. It dropped him.

“Kin!” Kail shouted, outstretching his hand even though Kin was too far from him. Then an armoured warrior jumped to the rescue. He caught Kin and together them slammed into a tree, but the warrior grabbed onto it with his claws, keeping them safe. Kail breathed a sigh of relief, then he remembered when Kin had killed a werewolf with his broken spear. He had aimed for the eye. Kail did the same, bringing his sword up ready, but the werewolf whipped back around to glare at Kail, stopping him in his tracks. It snarled at him. He was sure the ice wouldn’t hold it back for long, like it hadn’t held Torbjorn back for long.

Then something hit it. Something flew threw the air and hit it in the back, causing it to lurch forward and scream in pain. Its tail whipped up and pulled out a sword that had been impaled into it. It was a smaller sword than Kail’s. Thinner too, with a silvery shine to it. He recognised it as the swords the tahke used. The werewolf threw it into the darkness below. Kail looked to see the owner of the sword; a tahke wearing armour perched on a branch high above them.

“We heard the horn.” came a voice from behind Kail, surprising him. He turned to see another of the tahke warriors that patrolled the forest at night. “Although we also heard this creature roaring and screaming anyway.” she said. Somehow Kail had forgotten about them. They had been fighting werewolves since before he’d arrived, after all, yet he hadn’t seen them in action himself.

Kail looked around to see several of them arriving, swords at the ready, perched among the trees. The monster looked around too, and tried to roar, but it stopped as if something was stuck in its throat. More blood came forth from its mouth. Its like its own acid is killing it. Kail surmised. It went down to all fours, with its legs still frozen to the platform.

Then Kail saw a strange sight beyond the werewolf. Siegfried was making his way back up a tree by using his spear to stab into it and then to pull himself up.

The werewolf rose back up and pulled its feet free of the ice, almost effortlessly like Kail had feared. It looked around, noticing the armoured tahkean warriors appearing. Then it turned back to Kail, snarling, and took a step towards him and the tahkean next to him.

Siegfried had stabbed his spear firmly into the tree and pulled himself onto it so he was standing precariously upon it.

“Throw me a sword.” he commanded of the nearest warrior, who did as they were told. He grabbed a hold of it in his only hand and crouched upon the spear. He then jumped as far as he could, which was far enough to reach the werewolf. Sword first, he landed upon its head, going over its body and impaling it through the head into the platform it was on, so that it never reached Kail. It slammed hard, and with the impact the werewolf’s body fell off the platform, threatening to take Siegfried with it. The sword held it in place however. Siegfried remained calm all the while, glaring down at the monster.

“He turned himself into this. He had a choice, unlike everyone else. Even this is better than he deserves.” he said.

There’s a chance we could’ve turned him back to normal. Kail thought, recalling Soxolfr using the water of the lake to turn Torbjorn back into a tahke. Maybe we could’ve ended this without another death. He chose not to say anything though.

Then came an audible crack. Kail realised that the creature’s saliva was burning through the platform where its head had been impaled. The platform broke, and the creature fell with Siegfried still on top of it. Kail reacted immediately, jumping forward and reaching for Siegfried, who managed to extend his hand and grab his arm with a tight and painful clawed grip, but Kail gritted his teeth and didn’t let go. Siegfried was heavy, however. He was more worried that he’d be pulled over the edge as well. Then the women who had appeared next to him earlier was at his side, helping him pull Siegfried up as the body of the werewolf hit the unseen ground below with a loud thud. Kail looked at his arm. There were indeed claw marks where Siegfried had pierced the skin.

“My apologies.” Siegfried said, seeing what he’d done. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”

It hurt, but Kail hid the pain. “It’s fine.” Kail responded. “A small price to pay. We should probably go down there though, to check the body just to be safe.” he said, changing the subject. Siegfried nodded.

*

“How can this be?” Ylva asked in shock. Kail, Kin, Ylva, Siegfried and the tahkean warriors had made their way to the ground. The body of the werewolf had transformed back into a tahke on death, although it lay broken and covered in blood. Thankfully the sword wasn’t still lodged in its head… but it was still a gruesome sight. What was wrong with the sight, however, was that it wasn’t the body of Salomon. It was the body of a girl. Kail’s stomach sank as he thought it resembled the girl who had kept an eye on Kail when he’d been recovering.

“Siv?” Siegfried asked in confusion. It didn’t make any sense to him. He had killed the monster, believing it to be Salomon. They had all seen Salomon transform into it, yet here was Siv’s dead body in his place. He fell down to his knees next to her, looking at her body in horror, unable to remove his gaze.

“Kin….” Kail started. “Could magic explain this?”

With his words everyone turned to Kin for an answer. He looked fearful, putting his hands up in helplessness.

“I… don’t know.” he answered. “There is a lot to magic. I only know what I know. Changing people’s appearance? Maybe… maybe… but I couldn’t say for sure. I’m not an expert.”

“Changing people’s appearance?” Ylva asked. “You think he could have changed her appearance to look like him?”

“Again… I don’t know. This is out of what I know.” Kin said.

“He didn’t just change her appearance…” Kail said, earning a questioning look from Ylva. “The way he… or she… was talking. It was as if he was controlling her as well.”

“I’ve…. never seen her wear this.” came Siegfried’s weak voice. In his hands was a broken amulet that had presumably been around her neck. Kin gasped, gaining everyone’s attention again. He looked around and sighed, then stepped forward.

“Well, you see, magical items… like amulets… are definitely a thing when it comes to magic. I’ve… seen a fair few of them.” he said.

“Like this?” Siegfried asked.

“Err… let me take a look.” Kin answered, carefully taking it from Siegfried. “Well… it has a crystal of some sort in it… I think they’re meant to be good for holding magical power…” he trailed off as he inspected it. “I can… sense magic in it. There are runes engraved upon the crystal as well, but they’re too small for me to try to read. And even if I could…. Like I said I don’t know about magic to change your look or control someone’s mind.” He looked up from the amulet. “Anyone want to try it on?” he asked with a mischievous smile. No one said anything…. “Err… Nevermind.” he said, looking down at the ground.

“His clinic… We should have a look inside.” Ylva said, taking the spotlight off Kin, thankfully.

“He’s… still alive.” Siegfried said. His hand curled into a fist. “He will pay for everything.” he promised.

What’s… going on? whispered a ghostly voice. Kail noticed Ylva look around in confusion. She had heard the voice too. He caught her eye. He nodded towards Ylva’s body. She concentrated on it and Kail realised she must be looking at her spirit. Is this what people see when I do it? Do I just… space out all of a sudden? Then he joined her. As he suspected, what they saw what the spirit of Siv.

Am I dead? she asked.

Kail didn’t know what to say.

Yes, Siv. came Ylva’s voice. What is the last thing you remember?

It was a strange situation, seeing the spirit of someone who hadn’t experienced their own death. Soxolfr had known he was dead, but Siv hadn’t been herself when she had been killed.

I remember Doctor Salomon… he was acting strange. He wanted me to put on a necklace. He was really insistent about it and… then nothing.

It really was the necklace then… Kail said.

What was it? Siv asked.

Well… Ylva started. We think Salomon is behind the infection that’s been turning our people into monsters… and he did the same to you… I’m sorry Siv. We will stop him though.

I see… she responded. Did I hurt anyone? she asked.

No! Kail said emphatically. We… we stopped you before that could happen… But it wasn’t you. It was him. He was controlling you.

I see. she responded. Thank you. For stopping me… So I became one of them… because of him… And I thought he was a good person. I wanted to help him…

As did we all. Ylva said to reassure her. He tricked all of us. It was all part of his plan.

Why? What does he want? she asked.

We’re not sure. Ylva answered. We think he’s after Siegfried, but we’re not sure why.

Siegfried? Siv wondered. Don’t let him take him. Siegfried is a good man… Will you tell him I said that? And thank him for protecting the village? Don’t let Salomon turn him into a monster too.

Kail’s heart sank. He couldn’t tell her that Siegfried had been the one to kill her. Although… would it matter? She seemed like she would forgive him, especially considering the circumstances. And wouldn’t knowing she forgave him help him with any guilt he might be feeling?

Siv… Kail started.

Kail. Ylva said firmly. We should go, and leave her in peace. We still have a lot to do. There was meaning in her voice, as if she was intentionally stopping him from continuing. We’ll tell him. she said to Siv.

Alright then. Kail answered. Perhaps he should talk to her about it later. Would Siv’s spirit still be around? There was still so much he was unsure about. He knew spirits didn’t stay forever, but he didn’t know how long they lasted for, or what happened to them. If Soxolfr’s spirit was still within the forest then maybe he could tell him. Then he returned to the world of the living, and saw the focus return to Ylva’s eyes as she did the same. Kin was giving Kail a questioning look, whilst Siegfried was still kneeled next to Siv’s body.

“I just talked to her.” Ylva announced, gaining Siegfried’s attention. “The last thing she remembers is putting on that amulet. Salomon made her wear it.”

“Damn him.” Siegfried said angrily.

“She said… thank you, for stopping her.” Ylva said, directing it at Siegfried, whose eyes went wide in shock. Technically she wasn’t lying, but it seemed like she wanted to be misconstrued. “And she said she doesn’t want us to let him have Siegfried.” she continued, making a point to address everyone, especially the tahkean warriors who trained with him. “So that’s what we’ll do. We’ll defend Siegfried from him, and any more werewolves that might come. And when we find him, we’ll kill him and end all of this.” She received nods from the people around her, a sad but determined look going around. “I don’t want any more deaths in this forest… except for his.” she finished coldly. Kail got a very different feeling from her than from Soxolfr, although he had to question whether Soxolfr wouldn’t be similar if he was still alive and Ylva had been the one who died.

Legacy of Kail - Chapter 9

Looking across the lake, Kail could see a boat coming from the island. Hopefully that meant that Soxolfr was already on his way to towards them, perhaps to help defend against the attack.

“You really think that old man will be of any help?” Kin asked.

“Well, he’s a shaman like me, and he says he can use the Ookami spirit. The Ookami is…. well… something else. It must be of some help in a fight. He should be good to have around.” Kail answered.

“Hmm… Still, I feel like we’d be better served hunting down any werewolves that might be attacking people.” Kin replied.

“Maybe… But I’d like to tell Soxolfr what we found first. Besides, Siegfried should be about, as well as those armoured fighters he trains with. In the forest, up in the trees at least, me and you are at a huge disadvantage.” Kail said.

 “True. I’m much more confident here where there’s more of a clearing.” Kin said. “Although…” he looked at his broken spear. They hadn’t taken the time to try to find the end with the spear-head… so all he had was a stick with blood on the end. He sighed.

 “I guess I’ll be doing the fighting if one of them comes here.” Kail said, unable to keep the uneasiness from his voice. The boat was near the shore now, heading for them. And then…

A roar came from the forest behind them. It was louder and somehow different from what they’d heard so far. It was somehow more inhuman. The picture of a lion came to Kail’s mind. He’d never seen one, only read about them and looked at pictures drawn of them, but the lion was known as the ‘king of beasts’ in the land it was from. It was said to have a mighty roar that would alert all nearby creatures that the one who stood at the top of the food chain was there. That was the effect the roar had on Kail. Just like the werewolf he had met before, it was as if there were two sounds he could hear un unison. One; the loud roar of a beast, and two: the pained scream of a man in pain. A grim reminder that these creatures were once tahke.

They could see red eyes glowing from the shadows of the trees. Then creature stepped from the shadows towards them. This one was larger than the others. Even Kin looked small compared to its height. Two magnificent and deadly horns crowned its head, and a strong and powerful tail followed it as it silently approached. It smelled the air and looked around, finally settling its glare on Kail, who held his sword ready, yet felt unarmed before the gigantic beast. The most unsettling thing about it was not its size compared to the other werewolves, nor its calm demeanour nor its red eyes. It was its fur. Unlike the other werewolves, its fur was a stark white, waving around its frame in an almost ghostly fashion. It truly set it apart from the other werewolves Kail had seen, which had had much darker fur, more animal-like. Then it opened its mouth which Kail was sure was big enough to bite his entire head off, and it roared at them again. The same fear-inducing roar they had just heard. Then its body tensed, ready to attack, drawing Kail from the almost dreamlike stupor he had been in from looking at the creature. He gripped his sword tight.

The werewolf burst into a sprint toward Kail when a piece of wood hit it in its face. Kail looked to Kin in shock, who looked equally shocked at his own actions. He had no weapon, and he must had realised his stick wouldn’t do anything in real combat. Kail looked back to see the werewolf change its target to Kin. It growled threateningly and closed the distance almost instantly. Kail swung his sword at it, hoping to catch it off-guard, but it swung its arm at Kail’s sword to intercept the strike. The strength of it sent Kail’s sword flying out of his hands, and the beast turned to Kail. Then there was a flash of light from the creature’s feet.

“Run!” Kin shouted. Kail didn’t need to look down to realise that Kin had frozen it to the ground. He ran towards his sword, and Kin also took the momentary distraction to run after him, not wanting to be stranded by himself without a weapon against the werewolf. “I’ll support you with my magic.” Kin said. Then they heard the sound of ice shattering. The werewolf had broken free effortlessly, and it turned its attention toward them again.

“Right.” Kail answered. Then, suddenly, loud sounds attacked his eardrums, causing him to drop his weapon and cover his ears. Kin looked at him, confused and panicked, but picked up Kail’s sword as the werewolf slowly and calmly walked towards them. Kail could still hear it though. They were voices. A lot of them. Shouting at him. He felt his vision fade, and realised that the spirit world was coming into view without him willing it. He looked around and saw the ghosts of tahke yelling angrily at him.

Kin stepped in front of Kail, sword held at the ready, and slowly and calmly crouched down and put his hand onto the ground. The ground froze where he touched it and spread from his hand towards the werewolf. The werewolf noticed what was happening and growled in annoyance.

They must pay for what they’ve done to us!

Kail tried to differentiate between the voices and quiet them down.

Turned us into monsters!

He realised these were ghosts of the tahke that had been turned into werewolves.

It’s his fault!

The werewolf in front of him was the ‘leader’ of the werewolves. He was the alpha of the pack.

The werewolf roared at Kin once more, then pounced from his spot, jumping to the side of the frozen ground effortlessly, running around it and then jumping at Kin. He held the sword out in front of him but he wasn’t confident it would help. Then he was rolling across the ground. Something other than the werewolf jumping at him had knocked him away. He slid across the frozen ground he had made and looked up. It was Kail. He had knocked Kin out of the way and taken the werewolf’s attack. They tumbled across the ground together. Amazingly Kail stood back up, but he didn’t look like the Kail that Kin knew. His eyes glowed red, just like the werewolf’s eyes, and he growled a similar growl to them. He held his hands ready as if they were claws and he actually jumped at the werewolf to attack first. They locked hands, and somehow Kail didn’t get effortlessly pushed away, although he did slowly get pushed back.

Kin took the chance to join in the fight. He ran towards them, sword ready. As he did so, however, the werewolf lifted Kail off the ground and threw him away, but Kail twisted in midair and landed on all fours. He then jumped once more at the werewolf. The werewolf held out its arm in defence and Kail grabbed onto it, attempting to bite it. It then swiped its arm with such force that Kail couldn’t hold on. Kail went flying into Kin, sending them both to the ground. Kail jumped to his feet to get back to the werewolf, but Kin grabbed a hold of his legs from the floor. He had no idea what was going on with Kail but he realised that their best chance would be to attack together. Kail ignored him, growling and trying to shake him free. The werewolf approached.

Then a torrent of water came from seemingly nowhere, assaulting the werewolf and sending it tumbling to the ground. Kin looked around and saw Soxolfr walking towards them without hesitation. Close at his heels was Ylva; his granddaughter. Soxolfr moved his palms forward as if he was attacking the werewolf and water jettisoned out of the lake and slammed into it. He made it to them and grabbed Kail by the shoulder. Kail immediately stopped struggling against Kin and fell down to his knees.

“W…what just happened?” he asked. He looked to Soxolfr then down to Kin who was still on the floor, grabbing his legs. Soxolfr then strode away from them and towards the werewolf. It roared at him, although its roar seemed more quiet than before. It also seemed like the werewolf had become smaller. It jumped at Soxolfr but more water slammed it into the ground, and it stopped moving. Soxolfr stopped a safe distance from it. Ylva helped Kin to his feet.

“I… think I got possessed…” Kail said. Kin handed him his sword back. “Thanks.” he said as he struggled to his feet. They all looked to Soxolfr and the werewolf. The werewolf was getting back to its feet, but it was the same size as Soxolfr, and its fur was falling away to the floor.

“Its…. you.” Soxolfr stated in confusion. The fur fell away completely to reveal a tahke that neither Kail nor Kin had seen before.

“That’s definitely not the doctor.” Kin said.

“No…” Ylva said, dread clear in her voice. “That’s… my father.” Kin and Kail looked at each other in shock.

“Torbjorn.” Soxolfr said. The man looked around, shock and confusion clear on his face. Soxolfr slowly approached him. Torbjorn grabbed his head with one hand and held the other before him, signalling for Soxolfr to stay away.

“Stop!” Torbjorn said, although no one could tell if he was speaking to Soxolfr or someone else. Soxolfr didn’t stop, however.

“So the transformation can be reversed….” he said. Then Torbjorn screamed in pain. His body contorted, and he started to grow in size. Soxolfr held his hands up and water moved through the air from the lake towards him, but before it reached him Torbjorn jumped forwards and kicked Soxolfr to the ground. The water fell. Torbjorn stood with one foot atop him and transformed into the werewolf that had instilled fear in them all. He then, as they watched, swiped his claws across Soxolfr’s chest. Ylva screamed out, and Kail and Kin both shouted out in shock. Kail ran forward with his sword, even though he realised he wouldn’t be a match for the beast. It locked its eyes onto him, stopping him in his tracks. It then looked past him to Ylva. Time seemed to stop for a moment. Kail wasn’t sure how long it went on for, but afterwards the werewolf turned away from them and ran into the forest.

“Wait!” Ylva shouted. Thankfully he didn’t turn back. Kail walked over to inspect Soxolfr. He was… dead. There was no movement, and the wounds the werewolf had inflicted were undoubtedly fatal. There was not much of his chest left. Kin and Ylva moved to join him, Ylva notably hesitant. “Grand…father…” she whispered weakly. She crouched down next to him and started to cry over his body. Kail didn’t know what to say. He realised it would probably be best to say nothing.

“Well, that didn’t go so well.” Kin said. Kail turned to him to give in a disapproving scowl, but then he heard a voice call his name. He looked around in confusion. There wasn’t anyone nearby.

Hear me, damn ye. Came the familiar voice. His sixth sense activated, and he saw the ghost of Soxolfr standing before him. There you are. Soxolfr said.

Soxolfr… Kail started. What could he say to the man he had just seen die?

Stop right there, alright? Soxolfr responded. I don’t need your sympathies. Nothing that can be done about it now. But one thing I DO need you to do, is I need ye to awaken Ylva’s shaman powers, alright? See, neither me nor her are like you. Our family has always had a shaman, but we pass down our shaman power to our child when they take over charge of the village. But…. Well I died. To be honest I didn’t see that coming… Torbjorn… Knew he was still out there… But didn’t realise we could turn them back! Even if it’s only temporary, this could help.

So what do you want me to do? I don’t know how to turn someone into a shaman. Kail responded.

All I need is to possess your body, and I’ll do the rest. Soxolfr said.

And… how do I do that? I’ve never done it on purpose before. Kail replied.

Just keep a clear mind and relax. Soxolfr said. He reached a ghostly hand towards Kail. Kail prepared himself. Suddenly he could feel Soxolfr. Their thoughts were one. He turned to Ylva, seeing her both as his granddaughter and as the tahke girl who he didn’t know much about that was mostly the head of the village. It was a strange sensation. Then he held out a hand and grabbed her shoulder.

*

Kail awoke in a familiar room; the same room he had first woken up in in the tahkean village. He lay on a bed once again. As he looked around, however, he noticed that another bed had been put in the room, with someone sleeping in it. Kail then saw Siv, who noticed that he had woken up.

“Good morning.” she said. “How are you feeling?”

Kail checked under the blanket to make sure he had clothes on, then rose to his feet. He felt… perfectly fine.

“Good.” he said. “The last thing I remember is…” Soxolfr took over my body. Everything came back to him.

“Ylva told me to fetch her when you woke up. Stay here. I’ll go and get her.” Siv said. Kail didn’t respond, deep in thought, so she left the room.

“Kail.” came a voice. He looked over to the other bed to see that they had woken up its occupant, whose identity surprised him.

“Siegfried?” he asked, stunned. “How did you get injured?” he asked. The five-horned tahkean pulled down his blanket to reveal a… missing arm. Kail was speechless.

“I met my match yesterday.” Siegfried said in a grim tone. “One of the werewolves… it wasn’t like the rest.” he started. Kail thought of Torbjorn. Had it taken out Siegfried on its way to them? If even Siegfried couldn’t match it, then did they have any hope?

“Did it have white fur?” he asked. Siegfried looked at him in confusion.

“No… I haven’t seen one with white fur. This one… it was… a lot bigger than the others, and stronger, but it didn’t have any horns, which was the most strange thing about it. No tail either. But it… somehow managed to bite into my arm. So… To be safe I had to… cut it off. I don’t want to become one of them.”

A werewolf that can bite Siegfried? And it’s not even Torbjorn? Kail’s stomach sank.

“That… doesn’t bode well.” Kail said. Then he thought back to when he had looked at Siegfried’s soul. He looked at it once again. Just like before, it was different to anyone else’s. While most souls glowed a light blue colour, just like most living things, Siegfried’s had black lines running through it like vines on a tree. Kail had no idea what it meant, but he imagined it had to have something to do with Siegfried’s unnatural strength and toughness. The thought of Siegfried turning into a werewolf…. It was not pleasant. Then he wondered… If Salomon was behind this… what could he be after? Could he be after Siegfried? A super-strong, super-tough werewolf. But why? Could he control them? Kail thought back to Torbjorn. If Salomon could control them, then what had happened would make more sense. Torbjorn had seemingly, against his will, turned back into a werewolf and killed Soxolfr. He went back in his mind over what he had learned.

The first ones attacked had been Torbjorn, Siegfried, and Edwin, but Siegfried wasn’t infected because his skin was unnaturally tough. Then Salomon had shown up and the infected had turned into werewolves. The night just gone, Kail had seen a human soul in Salomon’s downstairs room, which Salomon had disappeared with, and then Siegfried had been attacked by a werewolf unlike the others. Bigger and stronger, and able to bite through even Siegfried’s flesh. And it had neither horns nor tail. It had to be the human Kail had seen. The girl that had gone missing. It seemed to Kail like Salomon, if he was behind everything, was trying to infect Siegfried.

“I think… they might be after you.” Kail said. Siegfried looked at him suspiciously. “Think about it… There is suddenly a new werewolf that can injure you. A new werewolf. Also… your abilities are… unnatural.” Siegfried nodded grimly. “If they turned you into one of them you’d be the strongest creature in the whole forest.”

“Perhaps.” Siegfried responded, nodding. “But why do they want that? How would that help them?”

“I think they’re being controlled….” Kail explained. A flash of concern crossed Siegfried’s face.

“Controlled? How? And by whom?” he asked.

“I’m not sure how, but it would make sense. The werewolf we came across last night was…. Torbjorn.” Kail said. Siegfried’s eyes widened in shock. He had been there when Torbjorn had been infected, after all. “Soxolfr found a way to turn him back.” Siegfried raised an eyebrow in interest. “But… Then he turned again, and the way he acted was as if something was forcing him to do it. And then….” Does he know about Soxolfr? Kail sighed. Siegfried looked at him expectantly, but Kail didn’t want to go over the event again.

“If he’s being controlled, if they’re being controlled, then who could be controlling them?” Siegfried pushed.

“Salomon.” Kail said. An awkward silence followed, as Siegfried struggled with the idea.

“What makes you think it’s him? He’s been trying to look for a cure.” he asked. He then held his chin as he ran through events in his mind.

“Me and Kin went to ask him questions yesterday… I saw the soul of a human in the room underneath his main one.” Kail responded.

“A soul?” Siegfried asked doubtfully.

“I’m a… shaman. Just like Soxolfr… That’s why me and Kin wanted to see him.” Kail explained. Siegfried nodded. It made sense. “When I asked Salomon about the infection I noticed that he had another room below, and I could see a human soul. When I asked Salomon about it we were attacked by a werewolf. By the time we killed it… he had disappeared. And the human soul had gone too. You said the one that attacked you didn’t have horns. That means it’s not a tahke…”

“It could be a human.” Siegfried finished for him, his eyes lighting up in understanding. “The werewolves didn’t appear until after doctor Salomon arrived… Have you told anyone else about this?” he asked.

Kail shook his head. “Only Kin. I’m not so sure anyone else would believe me. After all, I’m not one of you, and it would be his word against mine. I have no proof…” he said. Siegfried nodded in understanding.

“If you can find proof, then I will take him down.” Siegfried said, determination clear on his face. Kail thought then that Siegfried was a good person. He simply wanted to end the werewolf affliction and keep his people safe.

Chapter 10