The first screams came from the kitchen, followed by a servant stumbling out of the double doors and landing on his back. His eyes were wide and blood was pouring from three long scratches on his chest. A deep rumble came from behind the double doors as they were knocked off the hinges. A pair of piercing red eyes gazed out at the crowded room and a mouth full of long, sharp teeth bloomed in a devilish grin beneath them.

A great, black beast stepped out of the kitchen, revealing a scene of butchery behind it. Chef Constance’s hand still clutched the shattered end of a wooden spoon; it appeared she had stabbed the beast before it dismembered her. The creature was the biggest wolf I had ever seen, his muscles were clearly defined even beneath his fur and he did not seem fazed by the deep spoon wound in his shoulder. His left ear was torn off at the tip and a golden ring sparkled there.

Shouts of “Wolf!”, and groans of dismay erupted from the gathered Hunt.

“We will end this place,” the beast growled, leaping further into the room and silencing the servant’s screams with a downward swipe of massive claws. A magic user in the crowd sent a trio of scintillating bolts screaming towards the beast, they dissipated against an energy shield and a red light emanated from the beast’s back.

“Get to the armory!” I shouted, shoving Isaac ahead of me and pulling Karan along in our wake.

Glass showered over everyone as more wolves crashed through the windows. A soldier pushing through the door ahead of us disappeared beneath a savage blur of claws and fangs. A shot rang out and the beast collapsed as Isaac shoulder charged it aside. I had time enough as we passed through the doorway to turn and see the Commander drop a smoking flintlock pistol and draw the ceremonial blade from his belt. He gave me a nod and let loose a war-cry as he charged the nearest beast.

We passed a few soldiers who had been outside the ballroom for various reasons, several of them adjusting their pants and casting about for the source of the shouting. I informed them of the situation and brought them along.

We arrived at the armory just ahead of a trio of smaller wolves, Isaac cannoned into the lead wolf and brought down all three in a tangle of limbs.

“Go!” he shouted, a silver knife flashing into his hand and slashing across the arm of a snarling female wolf.

Karan and I ran to the gun racks, grabbed rifles and shoved ammo into our pockets. The handful of soldiers loaded themselves down with silver bladed weapons. Strapping short swords onto our belts we ran back into the hall to assist Isaac. I snatched up a silver tipped spear, Isaac’s favorite, as I passed the rack.

Bursting out into the hall Karan crouched behind a bench and rested the rifle on the arm, breathing in slowly she pulled the trigger on the outward breath. A silver bullet punched in under the arm of a wolf with talons raised, she racked the slide and chambered another round. I shouted to Isaac and tossed him the spear. He spun away from the beast he was currently engaged with, leaving his knife buried in its ribs, snatched the spear out of the air and drove it into the midriff of the third beast who was diving towards him, claws extended. I stopped short and raised my rifle, putting two shots into the chest of the wolf Isaac had left his knife in.

“Behind us!”

“Behind you!” Karan and I shouted simultaneously. I turned around to see three more of the large wolves stalking down the hallway. On Isaac’s side were a dozen or so bearing down on us.

“Into the training room!” I ordered.

Karan turned and snapped off a shot that shattered the knee of the lead wolf on her side and then darted into the training room. Isaac lifted a dead wolf and tossed it into the oncoming mob, I pushed him through the door and then leaped in myself. Jamming a broad sword into the door handles I turned to the soldiers there, there were looks of fear on their faces. The wolves crashing against the door did nothing to help their confidence. Grabbing a loaded blunderbuss from the wall I started shouting orders.

“Isaac, check the training grounds for wolves, we may need to get out that way!”

Crash!

“Karan, find a spot near the door and cover Isaac!”

Crash!

“The rest of us are going to hold this doorway for as long as we can!” One of the men in the room was also a shaman from the eastern jungles, he drove a stick carved with glowing runes into the floor and we all felt a rush of magical energy as our clothes and skin hardened slightly.

CRASH!

The doors flew open and I let fly with the blunderbuss, its deadly payload of silver and Wolfs-bane taking down the first wave of wolves. Tossing aside the spent blunderbuss I drew and emptied my rifle into red eyes and slavering mouths, slung it over my shoulder and drew the gladius from my belt. As the soldiers with me crashed into the wave of beasts I could hear Karan’s rifle cracking out in rapid series. More and more wolves were piling up in the door.

“Isaac! Report!” I shouted, ducking a swipe and cutting the limb from its owner.

Over a wolf’s death howl, Isaac shouted, “It looks clear now, can’t guarantee the long term!”

“Hold them for a few minutes longer!” Karan called, “I have an idea. C’mon Isaac.” They ran into the training yard and I redoubled my efforts. A young officer drove a spear into a wolf and was hauled out of our defensive line as the beast collapsed grasping the shaft of the spear. He was carried away and torn apart before anyone could reach him.

Our line was wavering as the first flaming bottle soared overhead and flames sprang to life among the wolves.

“Fall back!” shouted Karan.

“You heard the lady!” I said, slashing a leg out from under my opponent I jumped back and nearly tripped over the overturned oil keg Isaac had laid down, an ever growing pool of oil spreading around it.

“Keep going!” I yelled, “Get outside!”

A claymore wielding soldier wasn’t quick enough and was dragged back into the horde, screaming. The last of us tumbled out into the training yard and Karan tossed a burning brand into the building and dove out of the way as flames erupted from the doorway.

Lying on my back in the training yard my face was bathed in flickering light from the upper floors of the building, which were wreathed in bright, crackling flame.

“Morefield!...Jacob! ”

The shaman’s head jerked up, “What?”

“Do you have any more of those totems?” I asked.

“Nossir,” he replied, “The rest of the ones I had prepared are up in my rooms, burning away right now.”

“In that case, everyone grab a rifle and as much ammo as you can carry and we’ll fall back to the local garrison.” I said, glancing down at one of the larger werewolves that Isaac had dispatched with his spear. There was something carved into the beast’s shoulder.

As I began reloading my rifle while squinting at the rune on the beasts shoulder, a glint caught my eye from the window in the lounge upstairs. Ezra stood in the window brandishing a cutlass in one hand and a pirate hook covering the other. He slashed the hook into the belly of a wolf and pulled, gutting the creature as he slashed the cutlass across another wolf’s throat. He turned as something drew his attention and a figure slammed into him and drove them both out of the window.

As the two figures hurtled through the air, a wave of flame blasted out from the window behind them. In the light of the explosion I saw Commander Kearse, bleeding from dozens of wounds, turn so that he would hit the ground first.

“Commander! That was incredible.”

The Commander couldn’t hear me, he was unconscious and Ezra had the wind driven from him when they landed. Isaac scooped up the Commander as one of the soldiers got her shoulder under Ezra’s arm to keep him steady. A wolf charged around the corner of the building, six guns came up, fired and the wolf went down, its chest a bloody ruin.

“Are you alright?” Karan whispered, gesturing towards my leg. Which I now noticed had a large chunk missing from the thigh.

“I’ll be fine,” I answered, wrapping a torn piece of my cloak around the wound.

“Now what?” Isaac asked.

“Same plan, nothing to be done here. We get our asses over to the guard barracks,” I replied, grabbing pistols from the nearby rack and handing them out.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10