Page 40 of Song of Night

The crowd swarms around me, Zara, and Jaylen, sweeping us back down the ravine as if we’re going to try to escape. Chanting arises, with calls of “Jodin! Jodin!” which I can only guess is the name of the man who challenged me. There are also curses and slurs uttered, blood savage, lord of demons, oppressor of Night. Their fury is palpable, and I can’t blame any of them. No one but Zara knows the full truth, understands why I’ve done what I’ve done.

We reach the place where the ravine turns sharply, and around the bend I see that it widens. At the end there’s an overhang which forms a shallow cave. Within the shadows there, I see three sets of glowing red eyes. Jodin strides beneath the overhang, and I hear the sound of something sliding, a cage door being opened. The crowd fans out behind me, blocking any route of escape.

Jodin reemerges, and at his side walks a monster.

It’s a wolf the size of a horse, but instead of fur it has soft, glowing orange spikes running from head to tail. Flames ride on its breath like a dragon. As it inhales and exhales, its body glows like burning coals, as if a fire burns inside it. As a child, I read tales of the fire wolves, but I have never seen one. I am at once awestruck and very much aware of my mortality.

“I am sorry for this,” Jaylen says softly. She hangs her head as if my death has already come to pass, and she the executioner.

“You have shown us nothing but kindness,” I say. “Do not regret that.”

Jodin moves off to the side of the ravine, and his beast stands in the center. Its glowing eyes fixate on me, and it lets out a low growl that shakes my bones.

“Asher!” Zara whispers, her tone laced with desperation.

“Fate will decide. It always does.” My eyes meet hers, and there are so many things I want to say, but there isn’t time now. So I simply say, “Move back.”

I turn to face the wolf.

Jodin utters a command, and the wolf charges me.

I have just enough time to pull my new dagger before the thing lunges for my throat. Rolling forward, I dive beneath its body as it leaps over me, landing in the spot I had been just a moment before. I come out of my roll into a crouch and the thing spins with a ferocious growl. Its molten eyes pin on me and narrow. Then it comes for me again.

This time I can’t outmaneuver it. I wrap my hands around its neck as it tackles me. The hand which holds the dagger sinks the blade into the wolf’s neck, but it doesn’t even flinch. It doesn’t bleed, either. I land hard on my back. The beast snaps its teeth at my face, but I manage to hold it far enough away from me to keep it from feasting on my flesh.

It is made of heat and flame, but so am I. I am blood drinker and demon both, and there isn’t a blaze that can burn me. That part of me that burns with hellfire feels a strange kinship to this creature, even as it snarls and thrusts for my face, trying to get its jaws around my skull.

With a push of magic to enhance my strength, I hurl the thing backwards off of me. It lands on its side and skids across the floor of the ravine a few feet. The crowd gasps and boos in disappointment, and a few feet away, I hear an angry grunt from Jodin. It’s clear who the crowd favorite is here.

The fire wolf leaps to its feet and runs at me again. This time I charge as well and we meet in the center of the ravine in a crash of flame and magic. We fall to our sides, the wolf snapping at my neck and slicing at me with its blade-sharp claws. I hiss in pain as one of its paws opens a gash down the side of my chest. Another few moments and I’m going to be disemboweled.

I send a pulse of magic into the creature, shoving it away from me long enough to get off the ground. Then I leap around to the other side of it so I’m at its back, arm wrapped around its throat in a chokehold. It snarls and gags and thrashes. Within moments, it manages to wiggle from my grasp and leap to its feet.

Crouching again, I face it, realizing that in the struggle I’ve lost my dagger. I can see it glittering a few feet away amidst the moss. Too far to reach, not that it’s going to help me anyway. We face each other, the wolf and I, both breathing heavily. Behind us, the other two wolves still in the cage growl and yip. Its eyes are locked on mine and we appraise each other for several moments.

I don’t want to kill this beast, this regal creature of flame and ash. It has no stake in this challenge. It has no vendetta against me. It’s only following the orders of its master, a man who keeps a being of legend and fable locked in a cage when it should be running free. We are the same at our core, the wolf and I.

It blinks and cocks its head to the side, and I realize with a wave of shock that somehow the creature understands me. Maybe not my thoughts, but the feelings behind them. We do share a connection. Fellow monsters wrought of fire and ash and magic.

And then, the wolf relaxes its stance and bows its head to me, a gesture so human it sends shivers up my spine.

The other wolves and the crowd in the ravine fall dead silent. Jodin is standing across from me, shock evident in his slack jaw and wide eyes. After a moment, he shakes his head as if he thinks he’s dreaming. He points at me and utters the attack command again. But the fire wolf doesn’t look at him. He walks to my side and sits down beside me.

“What dark magic is this?!” Jodin bellows. “I demand a life for a life! I will have your head!”

Murmurs move through the crowd, sounds of awe, not curses and taunts as before.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” calls Elden.

“The battle is over, Jodin,” another woman calls. “It was fought honorably. The wolf has spoken.”

“But it was to be a fight to the death!” Jodin’s face is red-purple with rage, the veins in his neck popping out. “No one is dead! No blood payment was made!”

“Do you wish to challenge the Lord of Night?” Elden asks.

Next to me, the wolf stands again and issues a low growl, its glowing eyes pinned on Jodin.

“As I said before, I do not wish to claim your life,” I say softly.

---