The Chosen (23 page)
Borrik removed his cowl, and being hardened veterans, not a single expression revealed any sign of surprise at Borrik's inhuman visage.
"All of you men are consigning your life to one that may leave you shunned by your fellow man. People may fear you, and your own comrades may distrust you. Though if all goes well, you men alone may be the deciding factor in the battle to come. Your sacrifice may save the lives of countless others," Seth said determinedly, trying to drive his point home.
Each of the men in turn nodded their understanding and looked now at Seth with more respect than before. Each of them was committed, for whatever reasons of their own, and each was willing to sacrifice their physical humanity to fight their enemies more effectively.
"Now your majesty, if you don’t mind, what’s with the does?" Seth asked.
"You all get the rest of the plan, let’s pray it works," the king said. "I wanted at first only soldiers who could see through darkness, but I realized that there was an opportunity for more. I want the most attributes that will be useful to us as possible. I want Seth to meld you each with an animal that not only is able to see in darkness but also is cunning, and able to communicate quickly and work as a team. Yet I also wanted ferociousness and intelligence, loyalty and obedience. So I sent Philip out to bring us some bait, and with any luck those two does will lure us in some wolves," The king said, a cunning smile dancing on his lips.
Seth could not help but admire the king's ability to think things through. An opossum would have been enough to give the men vision in the dark, but if they ended up taking on any mental traits of the beast they were melded with, at any sight of danger it was likely they would have just fallen down and played dead! The king was banking on the men getting both physical and mental attributes of the wolves and, without any prior experience, the king’s reasoning made sense. Though Borrik appeared mentally unchanged, he had been melded with another man. Though of different races, their experiences, needs, wants and ways of thinking were near identical, but an animal and a man were dissimilar in nearly all ways. The king's logic was sound, but none actually knew what the outcome might be. The men could become so inhuman that the king might not even be able to control them. Only time would tell, and only if the deer could bring the wolves to the camp.
Hours passed and evening turned into night, and the camp settled down and ate a large meal of the roasted meat with cheese and bread from their packs, and stout ale to wash it all down. Seth kept alert to any auras at the edge of the camp, but knew from experience that at a range of a hundred yards he would be straining himself to drain the wolves. Seth also knew that if the life force of the wolves was anything like that of the orcs, he wouldn’t be able to contain eight of them simultaneously without some place to release the power. It was going to be a quick process; it would have to be. Once the wolves realized their brethren were vanishing, they were unlikely to stay. Seth would have to strip the life of one of the animals and instantly be able to transfer it to one of the men before stripping the next, lest he overwhelm himself again. But for now all was quiet at the edge of the forest except for the still thrashing deer, both of which were now bleeding from their repeated but feeble attempts at escaping.
Meals finished, watch was set and the king sent everyone else to their tents, minus himself, Seth, Borrik and the eight elderly soldiers. Even Sara was forced to retreat to her tent. The king wished to witness the birth of his new troops, and since he was the king, Seth did not oppose him. Borrik remained as "spiritual support" and also to help Seth with any need that may arise, as he was sworn to do at all times. Currently Seth and the king sat just outside camp, behind a fallen branch that was large enough to be referred to as a log. Behind the men was a tent where the veterans and Borrik remained hidden from view. The tent too was camouflaged with smaller branches and fungus from the forest floor. It was cramped with nine men inside a tent designed for five, but being soldiers none of them complained.
Every one of them inside the tent and out sat unmoving and unspeaking for over two and a half hours, stripped of all their clothing but their trousers, until the second moon rose, before the first howl was heard. By now both the does had worn themselves out and neither had moved or made any sound for over an hour, but with the howling both began to thrash and mew again, seeking escape. Moments later another howl from another direction lent its ghastly sound to the night. Silently the men continued to wait, eager to see some progress when a third and then a fourth howl rose to the night much closer than those previously. Within seconds another howl came from far off to the right and then another straight out into the forest. Seth, seeking constantly with his mind, brushed an aura lightly way out at the fringes of his ability, but then it was gone. Another howl arose this time out to the left and was joined by two more in the same locale. Then to the right several more howls joined in the song and blended into one eerie sound.
Many more moments passed and all was silent. Through slits cut in the canvas wall, the arms of the veterans protruded through, each bared, each awaiting Seth’s grasp and the influx of a wolf's life force. Seth continued to scan his consciousness for new auras and this time he found one. A lone wolf had ventured nearer to camp than its peers, apparently scouting the situation. Seth, fixed on the scout, waited for what seemed an eternity, but eventually the wolf came even nearer, and as it closed in, the other wolves ventured into range too. At this distance it was hard to distinguish one from another, but Seth was now certain that there were at least a dozen of them in the pack. Even though he could sense them, the wolves still remained too far and so Seth waited as the lone wolf in the lead reached the edge of the forest and paused, scanning for any threats. As the wolf waited so too did Seth, only nodding once to his king who sat beside him, a signal that things were about to get very hectic, very quickly. The pack of wolves moved as one, each one sauntering in from a different location, making their approach from every available angle. Converging on the edge of the forest, their thrashing prey in sight, they awaited the lead of their alpha to attack. And as soon as the leader of the pack sprang into action, so too did Seth.
Reaching out with a tendril of his consciousness, Seth located the wolf furthest from the does. Being in the rear it would not be missed by its brethren readily. Connecting with the wolf's life force, Seth ripped it away, and recoiling the tendril brought the power back to course through him, awash in ecstasy. Seth reached out and grabbed the first available forearm and unleashed the life force into the awaiting man inside the tent. As the first of the old soldiers was overcome by the pleasure of the transformation, Seth was already seeking his second target, unwilling to become distracted by those in the tent behind him. Locating it, Seth pulled with his mind and felt as the life was ripped from its owner. Again Seth reveled in the glory of the sensation for a moment before releasing it into the second of the volunteers. The wolves even now were quite some distance away, and being such, perspiration began to bead on Seth’s head and neck. Without time to wipe it away, Seth located his third target and again stripped a beast of its life and within a second that life was transforming yet another veteran. Three down. Seth knew he was not even halfway there, yet already he could feel his knees shaking. Reaching out yet again Seth was relieved to find the wolves closing in on the bait laid out for them and so were easier to reach. His fourth target was stripped of life with less effort than the others, and after a brief moment to enjoy the energy Seth sent it coursing into the fourth veteran whose outstretched arm beckoned to him. The fifth and sixth went even easier as the pack converged. The seventh was the simplest yet as it was now motionless, already tearing at the throat of one of the does. But even as the process grew easier, Seth was tiring quickly.
His robes drenched in sweat, his entire body shaking, Seth reached out one last time and grasping at the first wolf he found, he quickly separated the beast from its life, and then begrudgingly released it into the awaiting arm of the eighth veteran. Releasing the man's arm, it then disappeared, being pulled back through the side of the tent as had happened with them all. But then Seth saw that he must have made a mistake in his count as one arm remained thrust through the wall awaiting his "melding". Seth was sure he had completed the task. He must have accidentally poured a wolf's life into the same person twice leaving one yet unchanged. Seth’s body shook uncontrollably, his vision blurred at the edges. He did not feel up to performing the task yet again, but did not want to show weakness, let alone failure to the king who sat motionless beside him, watching his every move.
Extending again a tendril of his consciousness, Seth located a target, though it had begun to retreat. Seth grabbed at its life and yanked with his remaining mental strength. He felt relieved as the beast’s life force came lashing back into his body. Letting the joy overtake him for a few seconds to ease his suffering, Seth could not imagine how he had made the mistake, nor could he imagine what would happen to a person once their "soul" was two thirds wolf and only one third human. Feeling now that he would not pass out, Seth stretched out for the last time, and released the power within him into the awaiting arm of a veteran. Seth sat back against the log, clinging to consciousness, his vision very near failing. It was then that the snarling erupted from the tent, which instantly turned into a writhing mass of teeth, claws and fur.
One moment the beasts of men inside the tent sat in tranquility, each recovering from the pleasurable kiss of the transformation that had made them more than merely human. Then, as one man regained conscious control of his body, the urge took him and he leapt upon the nearest of his fellows to assure his dominance. One snarl and growl turned into a crescendo of ferocity as the tent nearly exploded with writhing bodies biting and clawing at one another. Blood and tufts of fur were ripped asunder as the king realized his mistake. Seth barely held on to consciousness as he witnessed the melee that ensued. The creatures leapt at one another, snarling and slashing with their teeth, biting and clawing at each other’s throats, legs, bellies. Any place they could land purchase was fair game and as the first of the creatures was finally subdued, the victor from that battle leapt upon another opponent.
By this time those on watch had rushed to see the commotion but froze in their tracks seeing none of their own in the fray. They had no orders whether to intercede and so they kept a safe distance as the raging battle ensued. Snarling, vicious barks were followed by yelps of resounding pain as more combatants dropped from the battle, yet the fight waged on, none of the beasts willing to submit. One of the creatures, lifting its opponent above its head, reared back on its hind legs, standing peculiarly upright before hurling its foe into the fallen log Seth and the king both rested against, now their only protection from the battle. Seth, unable to move, watched as the beast hurled through the air smacked into the log with a thud only feet from where he lay, unable to defend himself. Seth knew he had failed, but was too weak to do anything about it. All he could manage to do for the moment was to bear silent witness to his own failure.
Only two of the beasts fought for dominance now while the remainder regained their feet and began limping around, encircling the two combatants. In the dark Seth could see the smaller of the two creatures lunge in for a strike only to be swatted away by the larger monster. For many minutes the creatures circled within the ring created by their peers, each one looking to gain an advantage. Finally the larger of the two, either finding the opportunity it needed or reluctant to wait any longer, sprang atop the smaller beast. Instead of biting or clawing at its opponent, the creature raised one great arm and, making a fist, began to pummel the smaller creature's head and neck until, whimpering, it relented, exposing its soft neck, showing its subservience to the new alpha male of the pack.
With the new alpha decided, the large beast, releasing his opponent beneath him, stood to his full height upon his hind legs. Even in his weakened state, with his vision blurring slightly, Seth could see that this creature was more man than wolf, in fact he was more man than any of the others, though Seth could not make out in the darkness which of the veterans it may have been. Each of the beasts in turn then stood, as a man on its hind legs, awaiting orders from the alpha.
The king observed as the number of combatants dwindled down and finally the last of them fell to the might of the superior creature. He realized sometime near the end of the fight, when those defeated had recovered and had not jumped back into the fray, what it was that had transpired. Wolves lived in a different world than men, where the strongest and fiercest ruled, and the rest obeyed. Being torn from their pack and having new strengths and weaknesses, a leader had to be re-established among them. That done, the king hoped that now he would be able to communicate with them.
Still dressed in full armor, and stiff from remaining motionless for hours, he rose to his feet, and first checked to make sure Seth was well and comfortable. Then he approached the new alpha of the pack to see who it was that would be assigned as the captain to his new soldiers. As the king stepped amongst the beasts, the two men who had been posted as guard this night, moved to protect their king if the need arose. Many in the camp had heard the howling, and minutes later the melee that ensued, but hearing no alarm sounded, this far into their own kingdom, none bothered more than a glimpse outside their tent before returning to get some sleep, each one assuming that the does, who had been wounded and tied to a tree for a later meal, had met an early end to the wolves who had been howling.
The king approached the beast that had only moments before been a man, though in the utter darkness he could make little out. He didn’t want to get so close as to appear as a threat, invoking some sort of attack from the men if they were no longer able to contain their urges.