Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Will

This battle was pushing me to my limits. I had never come across such a foe as Griswold in my entire life. He seemed to have an unending penchant for violence. The more I inflicted injuries on him, the more he endured them. They seemed to be giving him some sort of maniacal strength. Even now, as I had pinned him to the ground, he seemed to be going berserk with every strike I inflicted upon his body. It was only a matter of time before he’d get back up, spit out some blood, and resume the fight as if nothing had happened.

As if all my blows meant nothing.

Just as I had suspected, he got back up on his feet, roaring like a lion, and grabbed me by the fur. I bit into his hand, my teeth touching his bone, drawing blood. It was as if Griswold had no nerves sending pain signals into his body. He didn’t even flinch or wince as I bit down on his hand. Instead, he grabbed me harder and threw me in the air.

But he had overestimated his throw. I was in my feral form, and I was just as heavy as Griswold, if not heavier. Instead of being thrown into the air, I stood my ground, causing Griswold to lose his balance and fall yet again.

I knew better than to engage him in battle once again. He was deranged, and there was no use fighting someone as deranged as him. But I could not leave him alone. I had a fighting chance against him, but what about the other wolves? He’d kill them with just one blow.

Around me, Vince, Alexis, and the wolves were taking down the vampires who had gathered around us, leaving a clearing where Griswold and I stood circling each other, our eyes glaring into one another’s, our bodies readying for the next bout of the fight.

“You fight like a much younger man, Will,” Griswold said, spitting more blood from his mouth. “I’d have never assumed you were some old relic who had survived decades in a gloomy prison.”

It didn’t matter that he knew all these things about me. All that mattered was that I couldn’t let him or his vampires win because doing so would mean surrendering the commune to him and allowing him to brutalize all those who lived there. From there, he’d make his way to the town and kill innocent civilians.

As if I could allow that to happen.

There had to be another way. Right now, the vampires were too close to the commune. If the wolves showed even the slightest weakness, the vampires would take the chance and attack the commune, and from there, they’d go down to the town.

We have to get them into the forest, I said to Alexis.

Why the forest? She asked.

Because that would break their strength, right now, they have strength in numbers. In the forest, they would not be able to swarm or see around them. They’d be isolated and easier to take on. The wolves will be better able to fight there, I said.

But how can we drive them to the forest?

You leave that to me, I said.

I growled at Griswold, knowing he’d take it as a challenge yet again. He mimicked my growl and pounded his foot on the ground, preparing to tackle me. There was one disadvantage to his lumbering size. It was hard for him to stop once he started moving.

Now that I had baited him, he ran in my direction. It just so happened that I was standing in front of the forest. I was faster than him. He trampled the ground as he raced after me, heading deep into the forest. I quickly lunged to the side once the first of the trees came into view and watched as Griswold bumped against the tree and fell on his knees, his head spinning, his movement disconcerted.

The vampires came after their leader in droves, filling in the empty spaces of the forest surrounding us all. But this is exactly what I had intended. Now that they were no longer in the open, it was easier for us to overwhelm them, confound them, and take them apart one by one.

It was as if the wolves already knew what they had to do. All around me, the vampires began disappearing into the groves one by one as wolves picked them up and assassinated them.

“Get out of the woods, you fools!” Griswold yelled but to no avail. Even though the vampires were greater in number, we had the element of surprise and were making good use of it.

Alexis had taken to the trees and was atop the branches. She lunged at the vampires below her, killed them, then went back up in the trees. It was an effective strategy that was working wonders for her. As for Vince, he was darting between trees, slashing at the vampires as he moved, knocking them out with swiftness. The rest of the wolves had flooded the forest and were everywhere, surrounding the vampires from every direction.

That left the matter of Griswold to me. I had to end it now before it got out of hand.

“You think the forest will avail you? You are wrong. We are the sons of the forest. Not you,” Griswold said. “Long before the first werewolf had even stepped onto this country, the vampires were the denizens of these woods, preying on the people.”

This was just a bluff coming from him. He could already see, just as I could, that being driven into the forest had thrown the vampires. Their numbers were being reduced significantly by the werewolves, who were better attuned to the ways of the woods.

I jumped in the air, ricocheted off the tree nearest me, and collided with Griswold’s upper body, causing him to topple and hit a tree behind him. He was so huge that the tree shook when Griswold collided with it. Instead of reeling away from me, Griswold tore off a large branch and brandished it in front of me like a spear. I leaped yet again, this time landing on top of the branch and using it as leverage to pounce further and claw out Griswold’s face.

My attack was successful as I dug my claw into his face and tore out one of his eyes. Griswold howled in pain and fell to his knees, his hands holding his bloodied face. Upon seeing their leader fall, the vampires halted for a moment.

However, Griswold was not deterred by the lack of one eye. Instead, he wiped the blood off his face and yelled furiously as he charged at me. I didn’t have enough time to recover from my attack. Griswold’s body hit mine and threw me into the air. I was flung over the canopy, and the wind drove out of my chest. Upon landing, I struggled to breathe, but Griswold grabbed my legs and pulled me toward him before I could recollect myself.

I shifted back to my human form to get free from his death grip. Once I’d turned back human, I stood up, holding my chest, and recovered my breath.

“You fight admirably, Wilhelm,” Griswold said. “Let it be known that I commend your efforts and that I hold you in great regard as a valiant opponent. But all your valor and courage are for naught.”

“I’m not the one who just lost an eye and half of his men,” I said. “I don’t even need to be in my wolf form to beat you.”

Will, what are you doing? He’s twice your size. Alexis called out.

Don’t worry. I’ve got this, I reassured her. Of course, I was not going to fight him one-to-one. I could see that he towered over me. But that did not mean that I didn’t have a plan. I intended to draw him away from the vampires and lure him out to the cove. With the element of surprise in my favor, I’d be able to kill him in the cove.

Before I could even think about enacting this strategy, Griswold’s punch landed on my face. I remained on my feet, recovering quickly from the punch and realizing at the same time that my strategy would never work. He was too fast, too aggressive.

Instead, I lifted my hands and rolled them into fists.

“Come on, then!” I said, beckoning him to fight me.

“Are you kidding me?” Griswold laughed.

He was not laughing anymore when I landed a hard punch on his face and caused him to howl in pain. I’d just hit where his eye used to be. I wasn’t above the odd low blow, especially not when it came to defending my land.

Griswold grabbed me all of a sudden in a bear hug and threw himself off the cliff side in the woods. He did this with such swiftness that, at first, I did not even comprehend what had happened. But as we fell from the cliff, I quickly repositioned myself on top of him and let him take the brunt of the fall. He fell with a loud thud and stayed there motionless, an eyeless monstrosity with bulging muscles.

I looked up and saw that both of us were at least twenty feet below the main fight. It was much more silent here, and the rainwater hadn’t reached the deep recesses of this drop. The ground was dry and vast in front of me. Behind me, there was a small cave on the side of the cliff.

Somehow, in all the time that I had spent in the forest, I had never come across this place before.

Griswold was now stirring from his unconsciousness. He woke up with a start, growling as he sat up, rubbing his hands on his head.

“You took me for a fool,” I said. “You thought that I’d not defend my people?”

“The same people that handed you over to the Occultist? Why does your loyalty lie with them?” Griswold asked as he got up on his feet. I was surprised at the level of nuance he was showing despite the injuries he bore. Perhaps, after all, he was a worthy adversary.

“The sins of the father are not for the children to bear. Whatever Fred did was on him and him alone. His grandson fights alongside me as dearly and bravely as any loyal pack member,” I said, advancing on him with my fists raised.

“You and your pack have shown some resolve. Pity it won’t be enough for what lies ahead,” Griswold said. “I have traveled across oceans and continents for vengeance against my kin. I shall not surrender so lightly.”

“Ralph was your brother?”

“No,” Griswold said, shaking his head. As he shook his head, blood dripped from his eyeless socket on the forest floor. “He was my father.”

I had never considered that someone such as Griswold could come from someone like Ralph. Ralph was short, long, and lean. Completely the opposite of what Griswold was. Was this vampire lying?

“It is unbelievable,” I said.

“That I could be his child? I agree. But that’s not the contested truth here. It’s common knowledge. My father was an eager traveler at a young age, and when he was traveling the world, he fell in love with a Serbian vampire. I am their child. And I have come to claim what’s rightfully mine,” Griswold said.

“Even if that is true, you cannot just come here and ask for something that’s not yours. Your father did terrible things in the name of his business. I will say it again. The sins of the father are not for the child to bear. You can still repent. You can go back. Stop this madness. Let us live in peace, and we shall leave you alone,” I only said this because I wanted to make sure that I had explored all avenues before ending his life. Perhaps he’d be able to see some sense and understand that this was for his betterment. Perhaps he’d even stop fighting.

“Repent? Sins? Go back? You must be one hell of a crazy wolf to think that I’d back away from this fight!” Griswold yelled and came charging at me. But because he had only one eye remaining, his perception of depth was all fucked up, and instead of crashing into me, he crashed into the cave entrance.

“Suit yourself,” I said and shifted into my wolf form. I had grown weary of fighting him and seeing him get back up. In its own way, this was very courageous and admirable of him, but for my pack, my commune, and my town, it was very jarring. I needed to kill him quickly so that this battle would end.

Using my agility, I climbed up the cliff side. Instead of climbing after me, Griswold soared through the air, reaching to me with his extended arms. I made it past the cliff’s edge just in time to avoid his snare.

Back on the battlefield, I could see that the werewolves outnumbered the vampires. The vampires who had survived were fleeing into the back of the forest.

“Don’t run, you fools!” Griswold yelled. “Fight till your last breath!”

It was as if he was controlling them with his mind. The moment he uttered those words, the vampires lost their impulse to run away and instead gathered around Griswold.

As if to reciprocate them to show that we lacked none of the teamwork and unity that they possessed, all the wolves quickly came and gathered around me, growling at the vampires from afar.

“It was folly for you to think that this was my true strength,” Griswold said. “This is my true strength.” Then he raised his fists in the air and screeched like a bat. It was as if the reinforcements were waiting for this signal because, at that exact moment, another fresh horde of vampires came from above, below, and the sides, joining the fight.

Our numbers were now once again fewer than the vampires.

“Where will you run now, little wolves?” Griswold laughed. “The time of the wolves has now come to an end. Now comes the era of the vampires.”

The vampires began hooting, shouting, and hollering upon this, many of them raising their guns in the air and shooting airborne bullets, thinking that they’d already won.

And then, out of nowhere, a pack of werewolves tore through the forest and howled as they came behind me and gathered with the rest of the group.

It was a sight that moved me deeply. They were the women and children of the pack who had come to join their fellow men in the battle for Fiddler’s Green. Suddenly, this raised the stakes even higher than before. Now, it was a question of their lives as well as the lives of the townspeople.

I shifted back into my human form, not wanting this to escalate any further.

“Griswold, we both have the forces, the numbers, and the will to wage a perpetual war against each other. But why do we have to waste so much blood? Why not duke it out like men? You and me? The winner keeps the land. The one who loses leaves the others alone.”

“What do you say?” Griswold yelled as he raised his arms and asked his vampires. They all shouted in affirmation. “Very well, then, Wilhelm Grimm. Your wish is fulfilled.”

A circle formed around the both of us, half of it comprised the wolves, and the other half was made up of vampires. At the center of the circle, I stood with Griswold staring down at me.

Will, don’t do this. There’s something very unnatural about this vampire. He seems to be invincible, Alexis called out to me.

He’s not invincible, Lexie. I took his eye out. He bleeds like the rest of them. If he bleeds, I can kill him, I assured her.

But she was right. There was something unnatural about Griswold. Maybe, he had worked with Blair, and the two of them had come up with some form of a serum that had granted Griswold so much strength. I intended to find out.

“Tell me something, Griswold,” I said, walking in circles. “How long have you been conspiring with Blair?”

The shock was clear in his one remaining eye. It was as if I had caught him red-handed.

“You may be a vampire, but you are not a natural one by any definition. I should know I am not a natural werewolf. I was poisoned for decades with different substances. I can now recognize someone who has been altered by chemicals. And from the way you have fought, it’s clear that you have had some help,” I said.

“You are very astute, but that wisdom is not going to save you,” Griswold said. “Uncle Blair gave me the strength I needed to come to fight you. And it’s thanks to him that I shall crush you like a little bug.”

“Blair could not help your father. He can’t help you either,” I said, once again shifting into my wolf form and charging at Griswold. Now that I knew his secret, I knew his weakness, and I would utilize it well.