9 Fire

It was fire. The orange glow that rose from the top of the townhouses near the end of the fields was from a fire burning everything to dust. No doubt the Werewolves had caused it, which meant the town must also be crawling with them. Even worse they had coated claws that could kill a Mera from a single scrape.

The thought of the innocent, young and old, who would never see their family again all because of another stupid quest for revenge caused Rue's hands to curl into a tight fist. The suffering and pain she had to endure because of one scar and the absence of her mother will be spread to hundreds more from this day.

"Those bloody Werewolves," she thought as her watery eyes glared at the glowing town.

"But what can I do? she thought. "I could hardly defeat one, how could I be of help? I'd only get myself killed--the Chief's daughter.

"What was I doing outside the Royal walls during this time of the day? Why was I coming home alone? How stupid of me to have ordered my companions to go ahead just so I could have some alone time!" she went on as she scolded herself.

She had only heard of Jedposa never came in contact with it before. But she heard it was even deadlier to other species. That was the reason it was only on the tip of the Werewolf's claws. It was also the reason for the burns. They were desperate and willing to harm themselves just for stupid revenge.

Her eyes widened at the thought. Werewolves also had a weakness. They hated silver and a silver dagger lodged near one's heart was enough to kill it.

A smile ran up both sides of her face as her mind wandered back to her stash of silver daggers loaded with poison back in the forest.

Before she even had a plan her feet sprang off in the opposite direction kicking up dust as she did. The red sap flowing gently down the shimmering edge of her blades clouded her mind.

It was then nightfall but the gentle light from the starry night sky was enough to lighten the path.

She held her breath to past the corpse and dispelled the thought of more Werewolves lurking in the low cut fields that zipped past her shoulders on both sides. With a spring of confidence and the effects of the venom fading, she could feel energy returning to her body.

The second her feet stepped between two tall trees on both her sides, her tail unwrapped from her left leg to leap into the tall forest trees. Being something she did every day she needed no light to know where the thickest vines were.

Using her arms and tail, she flew through the trees until she spotted the silhouette of the circular plank level built around the large tree bark. Her eyes locked onto the faint shimmers from one of the tables before her feet stamped onto the planked level to rush to it. Her feet knew the familiar dents from walking in the same spot almost every day.

She felt for the tiny metal rings of her sack made of chainmail. Luckily her hands froze from motion before digging into the pile of sharp-edged daggers she could hardly see with the dimness.

Though the poison from those daggers could not kill her, having open wounds with Jedposa around was not a good idea. It could spread to her brain faster and kill her she thought.

She took a deep breath before squinting her eyes to make out carefully the handles separate from the sharp edges of the blades. She made sure to harden the skin on her hands and arms before stuffing the daggers into the sack with their handles facing upward.

At that point, Rue was unsure if she was being over her head. If anything she needed to slaughter at least one of those bloody beasties before she went down. She was too angry to even consider staying alive a priority especially being the daughter of Cronan, Chief of the Mera Domain. Whoever saved her from that Werewolf was going to have their hands full.

Once it had a good weight to run with she secured the sack on her back. Within the blink of an eye, she left her station and went to leaping on large branches and swinging from vines until she was out of the mini forest.

Upon passing the Werewolf corpse once more several other scavengers had joined to blend in with its thick black fur.

As she neared the end of the dusty track, past wrecked watermills and the dismantled ruins where once stood straw sheds and barns on both sides of the declining green fields, her heart began to race. She could make out the howls and growls of Werewolves mingled with the terror from Meras and explosions. The yellow glow between the dark blue sky and the housetops resembled more the flickering of flames the nearer she got.

It became clear that they entered into the Kingdom through the West-wing gate. It was close to the mini forest she worked in and that's why she encountered one so close by.

But why did the highly skilled Fronteras who patrolled the borders and tracked for trespassers not let out a warning? Rue thought this was crazy.

She took her last breath of the fresh green fields before the thick ashy smoke began to clog her nostrils with fine particles that lodged at the back of her throat. She pulled up the color of her uniform over her nose before a cough came up.

Through the wide opening in the ten-foot stone wall that marked the start of the town buildings, her feet stopped just where the path split into a two-way crossroad.

Ignoring the path behind her two more continued in front towards the left and right. Their sides were lined with two-story wooden houses positioned side-to-side the other. Each stretch of houses continued towards the second level walls that separated the Royals, but it was hard to see that far with the thick smoke that fogged the air. For what looked like twenty miles down both paths were bright orange flames mostly on the top of buildings reaching for the dark blue skies.

Rue's mind began to overwork as her eyes tried to analyze everything before her. She couldn't decide which path looked more lethal as they both had about two Werewolves chasing down the streets but away from her. Her hands reached behind her neck to pull two daggers from the sack. Her ears stood on edge for the cries of civilians in need or the deep growls of nearby prey.

Water began to settle in her dry and irritated eyes as she stared at the roaring flames on the buildings around her. Crack, sizzles, and the occasional crash of glass bottles ripped through the low roars of the flames. A large rectangular sign displayed from the overhang of a building on the second floor tore off and sent a loud crash of fire to the ground. Rue's hand moved to protect her face just in time.

The last Werewolf attack was more than fifteen years ago. Sometimes Rue had short visions in her dreams that seemed to be baby her looking up at her mother from inside a crib. She could never see her mother clearly as everything was always badly blurred. Whether they were real memories or a silly made-up dream went unsolved. But now she was awake and right in the midst of what seemed like war.

Her eyes froze at something sinister behind the smoke hovering the lower grounds all about. The blackish-red from burnt flesh jumped off the body of a Mera laying flat and lifeless on the ground. Then as if a game of hide and seek, one by one her eyes began to make out other dead bodies--some with obvious burns from fire while others had large open wounds that had evidence of being maimed by the vicious beasts.

Tingles along the top of her head caused it to shot upwards to look at the sky. The sound of flaps from giant wings broke through the loud roaring flames. The defined silhouette of a large two-winged creature with green eyes became clearer as it soared down towards her.

"What the…?"