Chapter 2: Surprise Attack

DAHLIA:

“Good job, everyone. Now let’s go home,” I told them after finishing up on today’s charity work.

Everybody was tired, but they were all smiling. Once everything has been cleared away and the supplies were safely loaded back into the wagon, I boarded the carriage with Lina, and we journeyed back together to the mansion.

“Lady Dahlia, how long are you planning to give these free medical services along the poor men’s villages,” Lina asked.

Lina was only two years older than me, and we grew up together. She was almost like a sister, but even though I loved her to death, I always hated this side of her – the side that occasionally spoke so harshly against the poor and the common people.

“Whatever do you mean, Lina? I’ll do this forever,” I said.

“Surely you don’t mean that, right, my lady? How about when you become the queen? I don’t think you will either have the time or the capability to maintain an anonymous persona like this.”

I sat in silence, not intending to respond to Lina’s queries. Of course I knew that these small acts of rebellion against papa could never go on forever as I hoped it would. It had always been my dream to become a doctor and work at the commoner’s district to aid people for free, yet, my father had always disagreed to it. After years of begging, he finally permitted me to do occasional volunteer works at the nearby villages. Little did he know that I used those times to travel to the far flung areas so that I could help people more intensively.

I sighed. Even Kaist was against me in this endeavor. We were friends since our childhood days, but he never shared my love for adventure and medicine. He had always been against me going out like this, risking my life so that I could somehow practice something very dear to my heart. Somehow, it felt like I had a second father rather than a friend or a fiancé in Kaist when it came to this aspect…

I think it will be even harder to convince Kaist to allow me to continue healing people secretly like this, especially now that the times had become more dangerous than before. This is one of the matters I must try to delicately raise to him once I get the chance.

“Lady Hurst, Miss Lina, may we please ask you to refrain from speaking? We are about to traverse the forest now,” Rick, our coachman, reminded us.

We responded shortly, and Lina shut the heavy curtains against the windows. She hooked the latch on both carriage doors, and once the preparations had been made, we proceeded to ride in total silence.

Recently, the far-flung villages and the areas near the kingdom’s borders have been plagued by rogue wolves and vampires, and they usually attacked those who travelled along the forest.

The village of Hildt that we visited today was covered with luscious green forests on all corners, and thus, it was one of the first few places that had suffered due to the recent attacks. Supplies to this area had been sporadic, and the knights, instead of being deployed in desolate places like this, were sent to the big borders to keep the peace.

Despite years and years of existing together, the war between the Werewolf Clan and the Vampire Clan painfully persisted. The only time they had really cooperated with us was when the Blasted Ones – the vampires - had worked with the Shadow Runes.

After the disappearance of this ferocious werewolf clan, however, the flimsy partnership the vampires had with the rest of our clan had completely crumbled. As such, our kingdom, Talandor, now the biggest werewolf kingdom in the western realm, was caught in the midst of a long-standing war with them.

Thus, if we so much as make a sound right now, we might attract either one of those sets of enemies, or even worse, we’ll end up getting attacked by both. Because I didn’t really ask for papa’s permission regarding this trip, I didn’t bring along any knights with me, save for Sir Raleigh, who was sitting in front of Rick as we journeyed.

It has been a good two hours since we traveled through the forest when the silence and peace was broken by the violent neigh of our carriage horses.

“My lady, Lina, no matter what you hear, don’t get out!”

That was Sir Raleigh’s voice. Surely, we weren’t being attacked, right?

I started to say a silent prayer as sweat began to pour through my body in fright. I was the one who insisted on traveling lightly, so if anything will happen to Sir Raleigh and Rick, I could never forgive myself.

Lina and I listened in silence. We heard nothing. Was there really an attack going on outside?

I trembled. I haven’t shifted for a long time. My father forbade me to go outside, so I had never been in any real danger recently. I had always travelled with my father’s knights and was hardly exposed to any threats until today.

Still, I can hear my wolf Eve’s ferocious growl within me. She was ready to face whatever damned thing was waiting for us should the need arise. It felt comforting that my wolf would stand by me and was willing to fight no matter how fierce the battle was outside. She was really so unlike me in my human form that even I had always been surprised that we were housed inside the same body.

“Lady Dahlia, be careful,” Lina mouthed in the dark. I could see her amber wolf eyes illuminated in the dimness of the carriage. It was also comforting to think I was with her. I wasn’t really alone…

Our hearts both froze when we heard a growl into the night. I began to hear the sounds of scampering feet in all directions.

I listened intensely at the fierce sound of battle from the outside. I wanted to take a peek from the window, but Lina was holding down the curtains firmly shut. We know that if the enemy would see us and discover that women were inside, they would go berserk.

Worse, if they knew who I was, they’d probably do something fatal…

At first, I can hear human voices shouting at each other, but now, all I could hear were feral animal grunts and howls. Sir Raleigh and Rick might have already turned themselves into their wolf forms. If so, the battle could be more intense than we could ever imagine.

Just as sudden as it started, the noises halted. The only sounds I heard were the shallow and frightened breathings that Lina and I took. What the hell was happening?

Out of the blue, from the top of our carriage, a hairy arm suddenly pounded its fist violently, creating a giant opening. I yelped in surprise, and Lina and I covered our heads by instinct.

The hairy arm continued to punch its way into the carriage’s roof. It was a huge arm – double the size of an average wolf. He must not be an ordinary rouge, but a seasoned fighter wolf!

“Lady Dahlia, when I give you the signal, you must run! Run as fast as you can, and don’t look back!” Lina shouted at me in between the attacks.

 “Let’s both run,” I interjected after nodding at her.

If we didn’t get out of there in a few moments, we would surely be pulverized to our deaths!

Before Lina could even do anything, the carriage door on my left side burst open, and the carriage was tipped on that side. All of a sudden, I found myself rolling accidently outside of the carriage and into the ground.

“Ah,” I yelped as my shoulders fiercely hit the ground. When I lifted my head, I saw a large, black wolf running with all his might into my direction.

I was stuck with enormous fear. My ultimate weakness since childhood was that I couldn’t transform into my wolf form at will. Eve, the wolf inside me, was growling fiercely, and yet, here I am, shuddering in fright in my human form. I could only look as the rogue wolf opened its enormous jaws and bared its jagged teeth against me. Those canines will tear at my flesh any minute now.

Suddenly, a brown wolf rolled in front of me. It was small but quick. It jumped into the black wolf’s side, creating a bloody opening.

It was Lina in her wolf form! She growled at me, and even though I couldn’t transform, I understood what she had said.

“Run!”

She didn’t have to say it again. I gathered my skirt and ran deeper into the forest as fast as my legs could carry me.

‘Shift,’ I said to myself, ‘please shift!’ I tried to command myself to mentally change into my wolf form, but it didn’t work. How can I be this useless?

I ran as fast as I could, but I know that the rogues were even faster. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that I was luring away some of the wolves from the people I had dragged into this mess, and I pray in my heart that in this way, I am being useful.

I stopped at my tracks momentarily when the terrain had suddenly changed. The trees disappeared, and I was surrounded by grass on all sides.

I hated this terrain! There won’t be anywhere else to hide in this place, but what can I do? I just have to keep on running as fast as I could.

Out of the blue, and just as I had expected, I soon came to a cliff.

‘Hah, please shift now, Eve! Please,’ I pleaded with my body. I tried to relax a bit and channel Eve inside of me, who had been thrashing about so violently, wanting to be let out, to take control. I imagined myself reaching my hands towards her.

However, even in my imagination, I hit an invisible wall.

I wanted to cry. Why can’t I shift? Why can’t I shift even when my life depended on it?

With no options left, I climbed into the steep rocks leading into a ravine.

I sensed that the rogue wolves had already arrived. They were only a few feet away from me. I must make haste. I climbed some more, the jagged rocks making small tears at my clothes as I scampered into higher elevation.

“Hey, princess, where are you going,” one of the rogue wolves said. “Why are you climbing up so high? Aren’t you even tired?”

Hearing him speak only meant that he had already shifted back into his human form. He was positively mocking someone like me who can’t even shift at will!

“Come on, you don’t need to climb any further.  We won’t bite,” the other chuckled.

Their words sounded devilish. I turned back to face them, my heart all wild with fear.

“Stay back,” I shouted. I pulled a small dagger from the folds of my skirt. It may not be able to do much damage, but I’ll make sure I won’t make this easy for them.  

“Are you going to fight us with that weapon, princess,” the one nearest to me said. He started to emit a blood-curling growl. “You know this fight won’t end well if you struggle, right?”

I backed down from him, my feet almost slipping into the earth below me. I could hear the gushing of water underneath, but I am not sure, and I couldn’t dare tear my eyes away from the rogues lest they attack.

“Come if you dare,” I said. I trembled a little as I spoke, but I did not back down. I wouldn’t do so, even if this became the death of me.

“If you say so, b*tch! Don’t say you were not warned,” he snarled. In an instant, the man turned into a wolf and charged full force towards me.