Chapter 37
I don't know how I ended up writing this. I read the last chapter, and suddenly felt a flash of inspiriation. I'll be writing the next chapter in the next 24 hours. I meant to keep writing, but I'm tired. Enjoy!~Tom
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The two Guard factions advanced, absorbing Rasmus between them as he walked away. The captains both moved forward of their groups, drawing their swords. Tuuka continued moving in his arc, the other wolves starting to get closer to him. Henrik unsheathed his sword and sickle, and began to tense up in preparation, keeping his eyes on Sofia, so he could follow her cues. Sofia, for her part, was growling in a deeper voice than Henrik had ever heard, and her head was moving between the two captains. She took a step back, but didn’t let herself go off balance. She was going to be ready for an attack. Then her ears perked up, and her head raised, and looked at the Guard of the Order. Her head cocked to the side slightly, and before Henrik could grasp what she was doing, she stepped back again, turned around, and shot straight for Tuuka, slamming into his side, and knocking him to the dust. Tuuka leapt to his feat barking, charged at the panther, and was met by a roar and a pair of claws.
Henrik, attempting to ignore what was happening in the back by Anja, turned to face the guards again just in time to see a flash of steel, and the captain of the Order fall to the dirt, coloring it red. The Guard factions stood in a stunned silence for a moment, a silence that was abruptly broken by a knife flying through the air and into the other captain’s temple, driving him to the ground with tremendous force. One of the robed guard members of the Order ran forward, throwing his robe off as he did, and skidding to a stop next to Henrik.
“Miika?! I thought -“
“Don’t worry about what you thought. We’ll talk later. Give me one second.” Henrik opened his mouth, but when he blinked, Miika was gone, and standing beside Santeri.
“Santeri, come here.”
“No! Anja’s not safe here, not with Tuuka and -“
“Damnit Santeri. Come here.” Santeri’s eyes went wide, and he moved next to Miika, watching as Sofia, Peikko, and Kiri held back the wolves. Sofia and Tuuka were tearing into each other, and it was becoming harder and harder to tell who was actually winning. The sounds of single minded animals in a war for life chilled Santeri through his bones, and the hypnotic dance’s spell was only broken when Santeri’s left hand turned warm. He looked down, and his gaze fell upon two rings. The obsidian and ruby were glowing.
“Put those on, quickly.” Without ever pausing to thing, Santeri followed the orders. The silver ring on his left hand, the gold on his right. “Good…now go after Rasmus.”
“But Anja..” Santeri was cut short as Miika grabbed him by the shirt collar.
“If Rasmus gets his hands on Anja, then this world is lost. Those rings and your power are the only things between us at that. You can end this. Go!”
Santeri stood still, startled at the outburst. He shook his head, looked around him, and looked down to Anja one last time. “I will see you soon. Hold on.” With that, he ran past the guards, never so much as looked at, and headed down the path in Rasmus’s wake. The guards had gathered themselves together again, and were poised to rush an increasingly worried Henrik.
“Alright, Henrik,” Miika said, as he returned next to him. “You’re still good at the whole magic thing, right?”
“Of course. Why?”
“Then I’m taking this,” Miika said as he grabbed Henrik’s sword from him, “and I will use it on the city guard. The Order are all your’s. Sound good?”
Henrik smiled slightly, and re-sheathed the sickle. “Ready.”
“Good. Let’s do this.”