CHAPTER 18

Unknown to either of them, one of the ghouls in the group that attacked them stayed back and only watched. This one was not like the ones Lola and Russel fought. This one had evolved. In fact, it had been the leader of those killed and sent them in as an easy means to slaughter the two humans. The inferior beings. They should have been killed without any trouble at all but it hadn’t realized the male was a wolf. That would have changed things. Wolves were dangerous. Hard to kill. Even for a group such as its. Once its kind was completely killed, it left. Or ran away. That would be more accurate. Those dead were not coming back. It decided it would be better to retreat. Come back with more. Then, the wolf and his female would die. It had evolved and became smarter for its kind but it had developed something else as well. Something just as powerful. Emotions. It had viewed the massacre of its kind from a safe distance, knowing it could not kill the wolf and his female, and felt fear. Then, after seeing the lifeless corpses of its brethren, it felt anger. A desire for revenge. These…feelings…were strong. Strong enough to overpower its fledgling logic but not enough to cause it to do something foolish, like charge in to try and kill the two. No. Even in its anger, it knew that would only lead to death. The wolf and the female had overpowered seven of its kind by themselves. A lone ghoul, even one with higher-than-normal intelligence, would be killed just as easily. That decided it. It continued running away, moving smoothly and effortlessly through the wooded region it liked to call home. It was a good place. Safe for it and others. Usually, anyway. Humans were inferior but they had weapons and numbers. They could be dangerous. A lot had spent a number of years killing and driving its kind away. But some, like itself, had stayed and hid. Now, humans grew soft and careless again. Complacent. It had convinced other ghouls to not kill and eat all humans. Just some. Enough to sustain them but not enough to cause trouble. It had been clear on that and for many years that had worked. It had worked until now. It made a mistake. Attacked the wrong people. It lost. A snarl crossed its features as it ran, its failure and the loss of its ghouls driving further and further into its head. Hours later, it disappeared into its lair to get more of its kind. Then, they would find the wolf and his female and both would die, their flesh ripped from their bones and slurped down. Their organs sliced out of their still living bodies to be feasted upon. Their blood guzzled like precious water. Its ugly, twisted mouth salivated at the thought of not only eating the wolf and female, but satiating the dark emotions twisting inside it. **** “Did you hear that?” Russel said with a groan. He was feeling a lot better since the fight with the ghouls but he still fought with some soreness here and there in a few of his muscles. Particularly in his back right around the spot where he’d been impaled. “I didn’t hear anything,” Lola told him, brushing a strand of hair out of her sweaty face. They had crossed into Oclan six or seven days ago and the terrain was not pleasant. It was mostly full of rocky hills, uneven ground, and ankle-twisting treks through unforgiving wilderness. She had managed, just barely, not to seriously injure herself but only with painstaking attention to detail and a careful eye on where she placed her feet. Russel, on the other hand, walked casually as if the constant trudging up hills and watching out for loose rocks was no bigger a deal than a slight rain or a minor chill to the air. In fact, the comfortable and confident way he walked around got on her nerves a bit after a while. He held up a hand and they both stopped for a minute. He closed his eyes and narrowed his focus. She guessed he was tuning his heightened hearing up to get a sense of what he might have heard. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again and seemed to relax. “Probably just some deer or other animal running around,” he said. “You sure?” she asked. “Might be something more dangerous.” “This far inside Oclan?” He shot her a look of feigned indignation. “My father would never allow that. You might not see them but our borders are heavily guarded at all times. Especially the border with Harvenk.” “Okay,” she said, not quite convinced. “You also thought ghouls wouldn’t be in Alcroft.” “Like I said, ghouls are cockroaches. No matter how hard you fight to exterminate them, they always come back.” He grabbed her chin gently with his hand and forced her eyes to his. “Trust me. We’ll be fine now.” Fate is often a cruel bitch. Not only that but it also had a sick sense of humor. As soon as those words were out of his mouth, the surrounding area erupted into noise in many different places. Russel’s entire body tightened and his senses went on overdrive. The air still smelled clear which meant whoever was out there had masked their scent somehow. Even though he couldn’t tell who or what made all the noise, he did know there were a lot of them. A lot more than seven like the last time they got attacked. “We need to go,” Russel told Lola. He grabbed her arm and started dragging her away. “Now.” Lola didn’t argue with him. She started running. “What happened…” she said, pulling in a gasp of air. “...to guarded…borders?” “Not the time,” he replied. Before they could get far, creatures came out and surrounded them. Russel stopped short and Lola almost collided into his back. He looked around, his nose curling up as a snarl ripped through him. His eyes flashed amber in the dark, causing the creatures to top short. Russel and Lola got a good look at them. Ghouls. Again. One of them, bigger and nastier than the others, stepped forward. It looked at Russel with obvious hatred and contempt. “Wolf,” it said. “I have tracked you, finally.” Russel didn’t let the shock that a ghoul was speaking actual words cross his features even though he’d never heard a ghoul speak before. “You have,” he said, standing protectively in front of Lola but she didn’t show any fear this time. “Now what do you plan to do about it?” The mysterious talking ghoul raised one hand and brought it down in a savage, downward slash. “Kill you,” the ghoul said simply. As soon as he brought his arm back down, the ghouls around them attacked. Lola already had her knife slid free of its sheath and Russel’s claws lengthened and grew. He let out a loud, snarling howl as the ghouls closed in on them. The dark made it harder for Lola to see them but to Russel, each ghoul was lit brilliantly with amber hues. The ghouls were almost to them when something else joined the party. They were dark, almost formless things that seemed made from shadows. Red, demonic faces so thick, they looked like masks of some kind covered their faces. There were four of them in total and each one had a weapon as black as the shadows they seemed made of. “Son of a bitch,” Russel shouted. “What the hell are those?” Lola asked, holding out her blade. The ghouls noticed the newcomers as well and for a few minutes, everyone just stood completely still. Tension hung in the air. “Oni,” Russel snarled. “My father uses them as border control. They must have been tracking these assholes the whole time.” “That’s good, right?” Lola asked. “Not exactly. They kill anything in their path. Indiscriminately.” The standstill between all those present ended and it was everyone for themselves. The oni cut down a few ghouls in short order. Some of the ghouls brought down one of the oni. An oni and a pair of ghouls came for Russel and Lola. Lola sliced into one ghoul’s abdomen. Russel fended off an oni blade. Chaos ensued. Russel and Lola managed to get away from their attackers after a few minutes of intense fighting. Then they used that chaos to slip past the ring of monsters that had closed in around them and hurried away as fast as possible. “They run! Kill them!” the ghoul that could speak shouted, shoving some in front of him and gesturing. Russel glanced behind him and didn’t like what he saw. Several of the ghouls had engaged the oni, sacrificing themselves while the lead ghoul came for them. Clearly it was hellbent on the two of them for some reason. He’d never seen the thing before but he was sure it had something to do with the ghouls they killed back in Alcroft. Maybe it wanted revenge or something. He didn’t really know and didn’t care. The only thing he knew was that he needed to stay behind. If he didn’t, they would get them both. He couldn't bear to have them get their hands, or claws, or whatever appendages they had on Lola. He pushed her ahead and she stumbled a little before catching her balance. She still ran but glanced behind her to see what he was doing. When she saw him suddenly stop running, she understood exactly what he meant to do. “You can’t do this!” she screamed, feeling her eyes tearing up. “We can escape together. Please!” But Russel was shaking his head no. His eyes were like twin, amber lights. His body started to swell again but this time, the process was going much faster. Fur sprouted all over him. The fabric of his clothing quickly started to strain and tear. Fangs grew inside his mouth distorting his voice. “Run!”