CHAPTER 9

They spent the next two weeks doing nothing but trekking through open wilderness, trying to make it to the border of the Oclan kingdom and relative safety. The way forward had been a treacherous one. There were several instances when they were forced to hide as roving groups of humans carrying farming tools as weapons almost ran into them. If not for Russel’s senses, they would have then been forced to lie and make up excuses. She wasn’t confident that whatever lie they came up with would have been convincing enough for these people to believe. They were on the hunt for the werewolves that had burned down her village but to them, any wolf would do. Russel could pass as human but there was always a chance someone got lucky and sniffed out his true nature. So, in the interest of playing it better safe than sorry, they elected to stay away from any and all humans. Especially ones carrying pitchforks. “We are close to the border to my kingdom now,” Russel told Lola one day after getting done with their training. She was picking up on things a lot faster than Russel would have guessed. Her skills with hand-to-hand combat were coming along nicely and her ability to do the exercises had grown considerably as well. Her body had started to take on a lean, hard look. All slim musculature mixed with a powerful physique. The soft, frightened girl he had rescued in Gloucester was disappearing right in front of his eyes. “Good,” Lola said in answer. “I’ll be glad when we stop getting delayed whenever people happen to come around. This close to the border, you’d think there would be fewer settlements. Where are these people even coming from?” “With the frequency we’ve been seeing them, I imagine King Harrison has levied some kind of bounty on the werewolves responsible for Gloucester.” Russel just finished putting their supplies back on Serk. Then he looked at her, his eyes serious. “I have a feeling most of the humans we keep encountering are not overly selective on the werewolf they kill. Or the King for that matter.” “Then we’ll keep staying away from any and all humans,” Lola said. “You’re right. It’s a risk at this point anyway. If anyone finds out you’re a werewolf, they’ll kill you. They won’t care that you were the one that saved me. Or that you protected me from the wolves actually responsible.” “We won’t be able to avoid everyone forever,” Russel said. He gestured toward their sack of supplies. “We’ve pretty much exhausted what Brenner got us. We’ll have to venture into a city before long.” “A city?” she asked, confused. “Wouldn’t that be too risky? A city would have tons of people.” “Exactly,” he said. “It’ll be easy to lose ourselves in the crowds. There is a city not too far out of the way. It’ll put an extra two or three days on our travel but will be worth it. We can get enough there to last us till we get into Oclan.” “Wrexon?” she asked. “Yeah, that’s what the map says anyway,” he replied. “Why? Is that bad?” “Wrexon is the third largest city in the kingdom and very close to the border,” she explained. “Which means they have a sizable garrison there. There’s knights and soldiers crawling all over the place.” His face fell and then went thoughtful, trying to readjust and adapt his plan. “That would be problematic,” he said. “But at this point, there’s not a whole lot we can do. The land around here is sparse and there’s very little in the way of vegetation or even animal life to hunt. If we don’t get more supplies, we won’t last long enough to get to Oclan.” “We’ll just have to be even more careful then,” she said. She didn’t feel good about that and felt like walking through Wrexon would leave them way too exposed but ultimately, he was right. They needed to restock. “I’ll be careful.” He winked at her, that devilish grin on his face again. “Don’t worry. Nobody's going to know.” Three days later, they saw Wrexon off in the distance. It was comprised predominantly of gray, stone houses with slate roofs. There were other buildings as well that housed factories, warehouses, governmental offices, and even a clock tower but most were the houses. Plumes of smoke drifted into the sky from dozens of chimneys and factory smokestacks. She could smell a distasteful, acrid aroma in the air. She looked at Russel and saw him curl his nose in disgust at the smell of polluted air. They continued toward Wrexon and eventually merged into a long line of others trying to get into the city. There was a bit of a hold-up because the entrance was being controlled by a group of about a dozen soldiers being overseen by two knights in full armor. Both had their helms off but their hands were resting lightly on the hilts of their swords. “That doesn’t look good,” Lola said, whispering. They were surrounded now by people on all sides. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We don’t have anything to worry about. Just stay cool and we’ll get through just fine.” She didn’t say anything. She kept her gaze focused on the soldiers and the knights. It scared her that they were coming face-to-face with soldiers. They had worked so hard to keep themselves hidden and now all that hard work could be blown if their luck went the wrong way. She felt her heart spike a bit with that fear. Eventually, it was their turn. The soldiers eyed them, a wary, cautiousness in their gaze. But also boredom. They probably had been out there all day doing the same monotonous thing over and over again. When Russel and Lola walked up, one halted them with a raised hand. “Where are you two coming from?” the soldier asked, his tone one of absolute boredom. “Bluffin,” Lola answered, her voice confident. When the soldier looked at her with a blank expression, she elaborated. “Tiny farm community near the Venkoff.” Understanding dawned on him. “Ah,” he said. “And what’s your business in Wrexon?” “My wife and I have some family we came to visit. My sister just had her baby,” Russel told the man. “On your journey here, have you witnessed anything strange or come across any creatures of supernatural origin?” he asked. That startled Russel somewhat. They’re asking about all supernatural creatures? He thought the king’s focus would be on just werewolves. “Uh, no,” Russel said. “Not that we’ve noticed anyway. Darling, have you had any encounters with supernatural entities?” She forced herself not to roll her eyes at Russel. She looked at the soldier and smiled widely. “Nothing, sir,” she said. “We got here without trouble.” “Good, good,” the man replied, still bored. He started to wave them through. The whole time, the two knights kept careful watch over everyone coming and going. Lola caught one of them taking an unhealthy interest in Russel. The man’s eyes wouldn’t stray from Russel almost from the minute they got there. “Thank you, sirs,” Lola told them, trying to be overly sweet about it. “You both have a pleasant day,” Russel said with a chipper smile. They started to move forward, heading into the city proper. Serk’s hooves clip-clopped on the cobblestone streets, making loud clicking sounds. They went past the soldiers and were almost in when the knight that had been eyeing Russel with hefty amounts of suspicion reached out and grabbed hold of his arm. “One moment,” the knight said. The metal gauntlet he wore creaked with the strain of his grip. “Please step out of line and stand over here. I’d like to ask you a few more questions.” Russel kept his face composed. Inside, he felt a flutter of panic.