Boonies

07: BOONIES

"Kill it! Kill the werewolf!"

My eyes widened from hearing the uproar outside. I jolted to the door, my head spun from the sudden shift of my position. I was grabbed by onii before I could grasp the knob.

My mind clouded into a mist of perplexity. My restlessness only grew by the second as the mayhem built up. There was a high chance that the werewolf they speak of was Fenris and if it was him, there was no time to idle by.

Lucius planted me away from the door, blocking my path. He slipped on his shirt, pointing at me in a chiding manner to keep me in place.

"Stay there. I mean it, Lucian."

"Fenris is in trouble. They're going to hurt him," I attempted to sidestep to the door, but was held firmly by the shoulders.

"It's dangerous so let me handle it. We don't even know if that's Fenris or not," he reasoned out.

Vines grew out from the floor which latched around my wrists and ankles. I narrowed my gaze at Lucius.

"Be calm chii and do not make any noise," he sternly warned.

I was not in any way being scandalous. He was the one who taught me to be compassionate.

Lucius slammed the door shut. I huffed from this unnerving feeling within me. I must know what was happening out there. Fenris did not show up yesterday and for a werewolf to charge ahead into a small nest of vampires alone— it only raised my fidgety state.

I jerked the tough vines tied around my wrists, trying to twist my ankles in place. The vines were very sturdy and it absolutely limited the range of movements of my limbs.

'The only race you should worry about is your own. All other races are enemies, Lucian. They are a threat to your existence.'

I was a fool for being fooled by him for eighteen blue moons.

His principles were no longer mine.

Why must we create enemies based on the race they were born in? We had no right to speak highly of ourselves.

Fenris and his cousin belonged to the same race yet Fenris did not even give his second thoughts of sparing his cousin. Being a part of a kingdom and high-class ethnicity will not give anyone permanent solitude from the destructive forces outside.

There was no point in keeping me locked inside that castle. The more I thought of the freedom I could have had and the person I could have been, a stinging feeling in my chest worsened.

I gathered saliva to my front teeth. There was pungency and acidity in my drool. I spat at the vines on my wrists. The vines dissolved with a sizzle but some parts of my skin suffered with a burn.

I will heal. I just need to determine if Fenris was safe. I had to excrete a lot of saliva to break free from here. How I wished that I slobbered like Fenris in this situation.

Once I was free I twisted the knob of the door and gently peeked outside. Cloaked vampires were running towards the source of the commotion. I slipped out. The whimpers of the creature at the center of the crowd was very much Fenris. My heart pounded loudly.

I shall not let this go on. They must pay for hurting my... Pet friend.

I stared up at the skies and squinted at the bright sovereignty of the sun. They were afraid of it, weren't they?

Hurls of winds blew strongly, ruffling the cloaks covering the vampires. They hurriedly secured their hoods over their heads as they fought off the strong winds with stillness.

I orchestrated the zephyrs to show no shame with their immensity in an attempt to expose the vampires to the sun but oddly enough, the sun's light and heat began to fade away.

I blinked in confusion and abruptly halted the airstreams. The clouds ended up covering the sun.

Onii will chain me to bed if he finds out.

My head spun when a black silhouette snatched me from my place, tackling me to the floor of our house. The door was firmly shut. I rolled to my back to know who saved me from the unwanted attention.

"Monsieur Stupid, how do you do?"

The man squatted in front of me. His opaque blue eyes observed me.

"I feel splendid. How are you on this fine and windy morning?"

"I am great, thank you for asking," I responded and rose back to my feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to help my werewolf pet friend."

The strange man stopped me and dragged me to the bed with no effort.

"I am sorry but that won't be necessary. Please behave until we get further orders."

"We?" I tried to clarify. "Who is we if you don't mind me asking?"

Monsieur Stupid held up his hand, glancing at the side as if he was sensing something. The main door of the house was broken down. Monsieur Stupid hauled me up, shoving me inside a wooden cabinet.

Various voices popped in until one particular voice silenced them all. Slow steps resonated on the wooden floor.

"A little bird told me of a gem hiding inside here, where is he?"

"Tweet Tweet Tweet," Monsieur Stupid responded.

"What?" the unknown intruder questioned in confusion.

"In bird's language that means you're in the wrong home. Are you sure you know how to converse with your birds or are you just pecking around?"

Someone scoffed and the very edgy conversation went on. That must be the Prince that onii was talking about. I did not have the slightest idea of his real name. I merely knew that it was hatched out of love and consideration for their child's welfare when it came to introducing himself.

"Tell you what, I'll give you anything in exchange for the boy."

"Why don't I just skip the exchange and kill you?"

"Now, now, we don't have to get violent here!" The Prince laughed out rather calmly. "I just had slain a filthy little werewolf that daringly entered our village whilst bearing a wounded hind and neck. It was tiring but I had to put him out of his misery and now look: I have his head to display in my room."

The gruesome news took me aback from my place. My entire body ran cold. He killed Fenris.

"Who's violent again? Because if you're hanging that head to your wall then that is another level of barbarism."

"Barbarity is the murder of people of valuable standing and this werewolf shows no value at all. Do not accuse me of being the same as you sir, shame on you."

"Oh dear, what's happening here? Is there anything wrong, Prince Freydjadour?"

"How nice of you to join us, Prince Lucius. I have heard of a beauty residing here and I dropped by to see if he would be of my interest," Prince Frey—never mind chirped.

"That would be my younger brother but alas Your Highness, he needed to go to another village named Fayacre Rusto Jesti Hwala Pur Jeste."

It was a village never meant to be found.

"The village of Fayacre Rusto Jesti Hwala Pur Jeste is two days away from here. Alright then, I must pack my things and set for a long stride," the Prince announced.

Was I the only one who cannot seem to grasp the whole name of the village?

"If I happen to adore him, Prince Lucius, please be there at our wedding," the piece of sludge invited.

That will be a wedding of a century that will never happen. Only a clod would agree on marrying him. Perhaps Segreth would approve.

Steps poured out of our place. Lucius deflated as he released a breath of relief. The doors of the cabinet were slowly opened. A gust of fresh air was welcomed by my nostrils.

"Hey chii," Lucius greeted.

I lowered my head and stepped out of my confinement. I sat on our lectus, remembering that Fenris was now dead.

"Why do you seem forlorn?"

"He seems normal to me. How can you tell?" Monsieur Stupid asked.

Onii shrugged. "Trust me, I just know."

"He had killed my pet friend. Fenris is gone..." I deadpanned.

This was unforgivable. I must avenge him.

"Fenris?" Onii clarified and I nodded.

He softly chuckled and urged me to stand up and fix my belongings.

"Come now, don't be sad. I have a surprise for my baby brother," he chirped before darting his gaze at Monsieur Stupid.

"As for you..." he trailed and stormed towards him. Lucius roughly pulled on his ear.

"Where the fuck have you been Aramastus?!"

"Good day Master Lucius, how do you do?" Aramastus wheezed out.

"I want your report but that will have to wait. We're heading off before that pervert comes back and touches my little brother!"

Aramastus placed his index finger against his cloth-covered mouth, shushing him.

"I'll be quiet if I were you, master. The walls have ears."

The walls had ears? My eyes wandered around the room to find the ears he was referring to but found none. I wonder what kind of herbs Aramastus was sniffing? He had a colorful imagination.

The three of us evacuated the house, taking the back door. Lucius covered my eyes for his so-called surprise. As soon as he uncovered them, I was presented with a huge object covered with an unclean fabric.

"Go on, take a peek."

I knelt in front of the surprise. I lifted the hem of the cloth, going under it. The uncomfortable feeling in my stomach departed as I found Fenris smiling with his tongue protruding out.

"Fenris...you are safe," I murmured and lightly embraced the werewolf.

Fenris released short whimpers and growls as if he was trying to explain what happened and I listened throughout his speech.

"That must be heart-wrenching. It is good that you are well, " I responded.

"Is this wolf experiencing a severe case of constipation?" Aramastus questioned.

Lucius elbowed his stomach. "Silence, you dense idiot..."

The werewolf snuggled his jaw against my neck, raising his front legs to return my hug.

"Let's go, children. Such a tearful reunion may be continued later."

"Where are we heading next?" Aramastus asked.

I slipped out from under the cloth, petting Fenris through it. His tail swished side-to-side as I gave him much attention that he deserved.

"We go back to the hideout as quickly as possible."

"What of the ippótes?" his companion asked. "I've been diverting them to different locations but soon they'll eventually head here in search of the Prince."

"No lives were taken?" Lucius queried.

"None," the latter replied.

"Well...I did snack on one and two knights, do they count?"

Lucius smacked the back of Aramastus' head.

"I told you to control yourself!"

"How do we take Fenris with us?" I intruded between them.

Lucius turned around and rubbed his chin in thought.

"Fenris, have you ever tried flying before?"

The jerk of the cloth indicated the tilt of Fenris' head in question. The wolf whimpered.

Can werewolves fly?

A loud and joyous howl blasted through the skies. Fenris' limbs stretched forward and back while my brother's zephyrs carried him with us.

I was sitting behind Lucius, holding on to him as I watched the werewolf take pleasure. His tongue fluttered to the side like a flag. He kept glancing at me as if he was asking me to keep watching him fly.

Aramastus was on his own pegacorn. Brother trusted Argo with us while he concentrated on keeping Fenris alive.

At the far distance ahead I could see ridges. Chains of green mountains and hills went on until we reached a plain of grassland. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the large landmass until a hillock protruded out of nowhere.

"Time to descend."

The direction of our way abruptly shifted. A tingle of ticklish sensation bothered my sides as we made our descent.

Brother slipped off of the pegacorn, sauntering towards the isolated hill. He pressed his hand against the elevated soil. A scratchy and rough sound was heard with the collapsing of the front side of the hill, showing a passageway leading downstairs.

Torches hanging at the walls lit up. Aramastus led the way as he pulled his pegacorn behind him into the narrow passage.

"Where is this?"

He beamed at me.

"Your new home. This is the place where runaway ancients reside."

Lucius gently pushed me inside, ushering Fenris to follow. My brother entered last with Argo. The rough and scratchy noise was heard again as the entrance closed.

We made our way downstairs. The mossy and red brick walls slowly shifted into dark blue quartz. The floor waiting for us at the last step was smoothened out in cyan elegance. Laughter resonated from below.

I was told that no ancients other than my brother lived outside of the walls, but it turned out that my people have been tossing out what they called defects. There were people from the Kingdom who escaped, deciding to lend aid to my brother in a fight that would equalize the distribution of ancient power throughout the world.

They called themselves Scums.

They withdrew themselves from the status of the high-end society of ancients and chose to rise up against not only the Higher-Order but also against the royal family. They were rebels led by my own older brother.

Lucius, the great general of the ancient army, was now a traitor to his own kind and truthfully, I did not mind at all.

"Chii, Fenris, welcome to the Boonies. Welcome to your new family."