Caylin's Monsters - Ch. 23: Brutal Retribution

  • Caylin's Monsters

     

     

    Chapter 23: Brutal Retribution

     

     

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    Time seemed to slow down, almost to a halt.  Every heartbeat felt like an hour.

     

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    The Skinner and his lackeys continued their relentless assault on Aela, and the moment finally came when they managed to break through her defenses.  She didn’t have much time left.

     

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    I could smell her blood on the air, so I knew she was wounded.  She had been knocked off-balance, and her step faltered.  The Silver Hand wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of this opening.

     

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    From deep within me, I felt something surging upward, on the verge of bursting out.  My breathing became labored, and everything started to lose focus.

     

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    In the moment between heartbeats, I could sense every movement and every sound in that chamber.  As Aela, still in the midst of stumbling, took a step, I could hear the sound of wood scraping against wood as one of the archers pulled an arrow back on her bow.

     

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    I could smell the satisfaction emanating from her as she aimed it at Aela’s heart, ready to fire.  But before she could loose her arrow, a blood-curdling sound caused everyone in the room to pause and look up.

     

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    The scream burst out of me as all my pain and pent-up rage exploded forth, and I felt the change begin.

     

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    Aela recovered her balance and turned toward me in shock.  “Caylin, how can this be?  It’s too soon,” I felt like I could hear her thoughts in my head, filled with both surprise and concern.

     

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    What started out as the scream of a young woman quickly mutated into something far more terrifying, dangerous, and feral.

     

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    I convulsively bent forward as my body began to spasm and change.

     

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    The cloth and leather of my armor began to rip away from my body as my limbs elongated and grew in size.

     

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    The steel plates of my chest piece and gauntlets cracked under the pressure of my expanding form and fell to the ground.

     

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    Soon, all other thoughts and concerns were gone.  The beast had emerged, and there was only instinct…

     

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    …and power…

     

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    …and rage.

     

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    I turned to face the Silver Hand who were only just recovering from their surprise…  I wasted no time.

     

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    I lunged for the woman who had first attacked me, grabbing her by the throat.  I lifted her into the air and squeezed with all my might.

     

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    The flesh and tendons gave way to my fingers like a knife through butter.  As her head fell to the ground, I growled at the archers who were looking on in horror.  The man tried to ready an arrow, but I leapt at him before he had time to release it.

     

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    I knocked him to the ground and dug my claws into his abdomen… He screamed in pain and terror.

     

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    I ripped into him with my teeth, and his voice turned into a watery groan as his lungs filled with blood.  He was dead in seconds.

     

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    A moment later I rushed at the other archer and picked her up with one hand.  She was paralyzed from fear and didn’t even resist as I threw her into a nearby pillar.

     

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    Before she hit the ground, I was on top of her, tearing out her insides with repeated swipes of my claws.

     

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    My instincts had completely taken over.  As I tore at the woman again and again, the only thought in my mind was that she was an enemy to my pack.  She had wanted to murder Aela.

     

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    I bit into her flesh, blood spraying everywhere, just to make sure there was no chance of her survival.

     

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    Then only The Skinner remained.  I approached him slowly, savoring the fear in his eyes as he feebly swung his toy mace at me.  All his strength meant nothing to me now.  He would suffer for what he had done… for the murders… for the torture he had inflicted… Oh yes, he would suffer.

     

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    After I tired of playing with him, I threw him to the ground and began shredding him with my claws.

     

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    I took my time, letting him feel the pain of every blow… letting him experience the horrors his victims had endured… letting him face the full weight of my retribution on their behalf.

     

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    Even after he stopped breathing, I continued to rip at his flesh with my teeth; my animalistic fury at its peak.

     

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    “Caylin,” Aela’s voice was in my head again.  “That’s enough,” she said gently and snapped me out of my frenzy.

     

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    I released The Skinner and stood up, roaring over his body in triumph.

     

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    Now I understood the true power of the wolf… the true terror.

     

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    With our enemies defeated, the adrenaline in my system was dissipating, and I started to regain my composure.  I heard Aela’s footsteps and looked to see where she was going.  She was walking towards… a body.

     

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    It was Skjor, but surely he was just… He couldn’t be…

     

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    “The bastards!” Aela cursed.  “Somehow they…” her voice faltered, and I could hear the anguish in her words, “…they managed to kill Skjor.”

     

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    I took a few steps forward, hardly able to believe it was him.  This must be a mistake, I thought.

     

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    As I stared at him lying there, all I could think was, How could this have happened?  How could they have defeated Skjor?

     

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    Aela knelt beside him and, after a moment, said, “He was one of the strongest of us.”  Her voice was weak… quiet.  Then, as if in response to my question, she took a deep breath and looked up at me, “but numbers can overwhelm.”

     

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    The anger and rage that filled my heart only minutes ago drained away, and only sorrow remained.

     

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    “He shouldn’t have come without a shield-brother!” she said through gritted teeth.  “Why didn’t he wait for us by the courtyard!?”  She closed her eyes, struggling to stay calm.

     

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    She stood up slowly, looking more sad than angry.  “I don’t know how you turned again so soon,” she said and then paused a moment, thinking, “Maybe it has to do with the vampirism or…” she struggled to finish her thought but sighed and waved her hand dismissively.  “Whatever the reason, I’m glad you were able to avenge Skjor.”

     

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    “Now you should get out of here,” she said, trying so hard to sound unaffected by his death.  “I’m going to make sure we got the last of them and see if there’s any information to be gotten from the bodies.”

     

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    She clenched her fists, and I could see them shaking by her side as she continued, “You and I have work to do.  The Silver Hand will tremble at our sight.”

     

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    Aela was tough, but when I looked into her eyes, her pain was all too real.  I grieved for her.  I knew what it was like to have someone stolen from you… to be right there but being unable to stop it.

     

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    She turned away from me, fighting to hold it together, trying to hide the tears that were about to come.

     

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    In the wake of this tragedy, there was no fight left in me.  My mind started to get hazy, and I suddenly felt so exhausted.

     

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    Then the room started spinning, and my vision blurred.  I felt dizzy and nauseous.

     

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    My legs gave out, and I crumpled to the ground.  Why did I feel so weak?  Was I reverting back?  I couldn’t remember the first time I turned back, but this had to be what was happening.

     

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    It was such a strange sensation… my whole body… everything was shrinking and changing.

     

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    Soon my fur was gone, and I had mostly regained my human form.  Without the surge of power to go with it, though, the change just felt… unsettling.

     

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    The animal instincts faded rapidly, and the reality of what I had done to those Silver Hand hit me hard.  The brutality of it… it was frightening.

     

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    My human senses were returning to normal quickly, and I became aware of the taste of blood and flesh in my mouth.  Realizing that I was tasting the men and women I had just slaughtered caused me to dry-heave several times, but nothing came up.

     

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    Sore and exhausted, I slowly sat up on my knees, still trying to suppress my gag reflex.  I could feel the change coming to an end.  I was almost me again.

     

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    Then, just like that, my body and everything else felt normal again…

     

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    …except that I could barely move.  Every muscle in my body was sore, and I was fighting just to keep my eyes open.

     

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    I had never been this tired in my life.  Why was I so weak?  Was this normal?

     

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    I tried to stand, but it was no use.  I stumbled before I even got to my feet.

     

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    I fell to the ground hard, and I didn’t have the strength to get back up.

     

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    I had no choice but to give in to my weariness and close my eyes.

     

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    I could faintly hear Aela saying my name and asking if I was alright, but everything was muffled… like she was far away.

     

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    A moment later all sound ceased, all thought ceased, and a deep sleep took me.

     

     

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