The First Day
#2 of The Bodyguard
The morning after Dark Wolf's arrival many of the servants chatted to each other about a dream. In their sleep their perfect companion appeared and they spent the night doing whatever their heart could desire. Morning found them satisfied but feeling like they'd barely slept at all.
When Dark Wolf rose from his bed refreshed by a good night he dressed in his plain clothes and topped it off with a thick leather vest. His talismans returned to their place hidden under his sleeves. His sword hung by his left hand from a wide sword belt. By his right hand he hung a long knife in the same style as his sword.
He found Nightmare already awake at eating his breakfast. He waved Dark Wolf over and swallowed. "Morning Wolfy. Come and get some food. It's going to be a long boring morning." On the table between two of the chairs was a generous portion of cold meats, bread and butter.
"Sounds good to me." Accompanied by the creak of leather he made his way over to the chair and dropped heavily into it.
"Don't you look a sight."
"I thought I'd better bring some armour, least try to look the part. I have chain mail and a helmet at home but I thought it would be better to appear as the humble guard."
Nightmare barked a laugh. "You should have left the sword too then."
"Armour is easier to deal without. This sword has been my companion for most of the twenty-five years of my life."
"Twenty five? Is that it?"
"You can talk, you're only nineteen. Twenty five is long after I should have given up living."
"You can't mean that..." Nightmare looked worried.
"You don't have to worry. I don't plan on dying anytime soon. To be honest I feel better than ever. More life in me."
"That's good to hear. But I expect this morning will drain it back out of you. Hurry up with breakfast, we'll be late."
"Of course, my Lord."
Nightmare was right. To call the morning boring was an understatement. At first Dark Wolf thought he might be entertained by the stories the nobles brought before the king but he was wrong. Each story was the same only with different names involved. Afterwards the dukes left to rest after their trips. Dark Wolf let his mind wander after the fourth noble came in.
His eyes wandered up to the thrones. Only two were filled. The queen died the year before of a plague. The king was an aging man. His hair was tied in a pony tail and the colour of the golden crown on his head. His clothes were of the highest quality and dyed white. The prince was dressed similarly but in coloured clothes. A simpler crown of silver was perched on his head of golden locks.
Either side of the royals stood a man in plain white robes. Each bore a large silver star on their chest and carried a white staff topped with a silver star. Priests of Deus. People who could turn their Faith into holy light. They could also bless artefacts or land with that holy light to provide protection.
Rumours in the Withes' State said that the castle was blessed by the most powerful priests in the kingdom every year. Over the years the castle had become impenetrable to all outside magic although the holy aura wasn't at all imposing on Dark Wolf's senses. In the night he had reached out of his body very carefully. Slowly he explored the castle in his spectral form and found that the aura kept magic out but did little to interfere with the magic it had already let into the castle but it did prevent him from leaving the castle like that.
One of the dukes of a duchy bordering with the Witches' State knelt before the king. He look dirty and weary. His words rang out in the hall, cutting through all chatter. "My king, I offer nothing to the war." This was the most interesting so far. Dark Wolf gave it his full attention.
The rest of the assembled nobles erupted with objections. The king merely frowned and called for silence. He said simply, "Explain."
The duke looked terrified. "It is not out of malice or cowardice. I rode here directly and with all possible haste. It seems it was planned that I arrive no earlier than today. My king, my town and manor house were attacked by a party from the Witches' State."
He paused and this time only silence followed. Dark Wolf was confused, something radical must have happened in the Witches' ranks for them to take the offensive. Dark Wolf was obviously behind on politics.
"It happened on the night of the new moon." The duke continued. "Somehow they completely overwhelmed the priests on the walls. Then a single witch blasted the wall to pieces. He proceeded to walk through the main street burning away houses and people alike either side of him. All my men and priest gathered in front of the manor to meet him, the rest of them spread out to destroy the rest of the town.
"He stood before us, alone against a small army. He was a wolf, painted red by the flames and blood matting his fur." Dark Wolf suddenly felt every eye on him. "He... lifted his hands towards us and suddenly red magic was all around us. The priest could do nothing, my men were helpless. He let me live... he held me in the ruins of the town. I didn't know what to expect. I thought I would be killed or worse. Instead he just released me, he gave me exactly enough time to get here today."
The duke stopped, his story finished. Everybody turned to the king and waited in a shocked silence. Dark Wolf leaned towards Nightmare and whispered in his ear.
"My king," Nightmare called out. "Might I speak?"
"If you have any insight, please do share, Lord Nightmare."
"Please Duke..."
"William."
"Duke William, describe as much as you know about the wolf and any close companions he had."
"During my captivity I saw his fur was white. He wore nothing. I did not hear his name. His army was made up of both Anthros and witches but he seemed to only lead the Anthros, someone else lead the witches but I never learned who. They were all very careful about names."
"Did he give a message?" Asked Dark Wolf, forgetting his position. "My Lord."
"He did. 'Deus is a false god. Your kingdom is built on lies. It will fail.'"
Everybody waited in stunned silence once again. "Do you know him?" Whispered Nightmare.
"I don't know. I've heard stories. I'd really rather not consider it."
"Why not?"
Dark Wolf didn't get a chance to answer. He shivered, it felt like icy fingers were groping every part of his body. Both of the priests by the king gasped in sudden shock. The heavy doors to the great hall suddenly swung open with such force their hinges shattered. Stood in the doorway was a tall, heavily muscled, white wolf in white clothes. Either side of him lay the door's guards.
The two guards on the inside tightened their grips on their spears and stepped forward. The wolf whipped both his hands up with his claws extended. Blood red magic leap from his claws and sliced through the guards and their armour like a hot knife through butter.
Dark Wolf's hand drop to his sword and he stepped forward. The white wolf aimed his hand at him and sent a ball of that red magic flying towards him. A bubble of blue light surrounded Dark Wolf. It wavered before the unexpected force but he managed to steady it and the red magic died out having only forced him to slow his advance.
The white wolf frowned. Then he smiled. He lifted his hand again and released another blast of magic. This one was bigger and faster. The blue bubble appeared around Dark Wolf again but it shattered the instant the magic hit it. It slammed into Dark Wolf and threw him against the wall. He dropped limp to the ground, his eyes staring at nothing and a large hole burned through his clothes.
The white wolf turned back to the king and started forward. When the two priests stepped in front of the king the wolf waved his hands at them lazily sending a ball of magic at each. A single white barrier formed before them all but it didn't even slow the magic. Both priest simply dropped where they stood. At this point the stench of burning flesh had filled the hall.
Nightmare put himself in front of the king with his sword drawn. He knew he had no chance but he could not stand by and let the king die. The white wolf stopped his advance and painfully slowly lifted his hand towards Nightmare. He sent another ball of red magic towards Nightmare who was directly between the wolf and the king and didn't dare dodge only to put the king in further danger.
A bubble of light met the blast of magic. It flashed a single time and them Nightmare was thrown back into the king. The force of the blast was spread over his body but still hit with the force of a waterfall. The sudden pain caused him to faint lying on top of the king. In his stunned condition the king could not muster the strength to lift him.
A flash of blue caught the white wolf's eye and he jumped back a step. An instant later a wall of ice formed in the space he had just occupied. The white wolf turned to Dark Wolf.
Although his vest and shirt had burnt away his fur was barely singed. His sword was drawn and the runes on the blade glowed with a blue light. The side of his face was matted with blood. "My brother wolf," Started the white wolf in the Anthro canine's language of yips, growls and barks, "You no longer must fight for them. I here to free you."
"You see collar? I am free. I fight for loyalty to friend."
"Then you a mere dog! A puppy looking for master's treats!"
"Who you?"
"Me? Me saviour of our kind."
"Maybe, but maybe start war that kill us all."
"No, I will kill too many for them to make war against us. Now, what you do? Fight or join me?"
"I fight. My friend there loyal to king, I loyal to friend."
"So it be. Put down you sword, put down our magic. Fight claw to claw, tooth to tooth. As it should be."
"As you wish."
Dark Wolf sheathed his sword and unclipped it from his belt. He let it drop to the floor. The instant it left his hand the white wolf threw up his hands and hurled a huge ball of red magic at Dark Wolf.
This time he was ready. He lifted his left hand against the red magic. The bracelet on his wrist glowed a bright blue. The red magic simply shattered. Then he lifted his right hand and the right bracelet began to glow. A shard of ice launched from his palm. The white wolf threw up a shield.
The shard of ice slammed into the shield. It was stopped but did not cease pushing. The white wolf lifted both hands to the shield and struggled to keep it in place. Caught off guard he dare not lower his control of the shield to strike the shard from the air. Luckily for him the shard could only contain so much magic and it ran out before the white wolf's reserves.
That attack had contained as much energy as a normal warlock would have in their entire body. The fact that the white wolf could block it meant he was no ordinary warlock. Dark Wolf shot another shard at the white wolf. This time before it reached his shield he caused a ripple of force that shattered it. Already another was on its way and again he shattered it. He grinned. This one shattered with much less effort than the last, it seemed the dark furred wolf was tiring.
His joy was short lived. Each of the tiny shards slammed into his shield. So many strikes at so many different points on his shield overwhelmed him. His shield fell apart and the shards of ice carried on towards him. There was little he could do. The attack was too spread out to dodge.
The shards slammed into him but did not manage to pierce his skin. The force of the blow still knocked him from his feet. The second he touched the ground water wrapped his hands and feet and froze binding him to the ground. Another shard formed in the air above him and dropped towards his chest.
Again it didn't pierce his skin and slammed him into the ground. Stone cracked beneath him and the white wolf cried out in pain. If he couldn't be stabbed Dark Wolf would crush him instead.