FHC B3 Chapter 63: An Immortal's Fury

I blinked and more of Krulg’s fur bent inward as strands atop his head parted to reveal red skin that molted in real time. As the hair melted underneath the Prime’s heat, Krulg’s regeneration fought against the injury and tried to regrow only to fail in an endless cycle.

Heartbeats passed and no one moved nor speak. The flames continued to lick the ceiling and the surrounding floor, burning the air as spontaneous bursts of red snapped into existence around Grim. The pops burned and singed the werewolves but still they didn’t react.

“You understand? Truly?” Grim growled, his voice a cold knife inside the inferno.

“Yes, Prime. For one of us has been stolen, a member of our kin and precious chosen of your glory. It is unthinkable, but we-”

“Insolence!”

A simple backhand from Grim sent Krulg into the nearby wall. His body slammed into the stone and broke through, sending rubble tumbling forward. Grim’s eyes turned murderous as another furred foot moved into his line of sight.

“Prime,” Ripper grunted.

“You too? You dare ask me to quell my fury?”

Ripper raised his head defiantly and matched Grim’s stare. “Your prey lies outside these walls. The only beasts you hunt are members of the pack. Pups, and striplings. Is that what the great Big Bad Wol-”

Grim threw a punch forward but to my surprise, Ripper caught it. Around his fist, flames rose to the surface and a rippling wind pushed Grim back–but only an inch.

“They are innocent,” he snarled.

Before he could continue speaking, Ripper rocketed into the ceiling. I couldn’t see the blur beyond the vague impression of red and orange but I watched Ripper crumple and fold into himself as he disappeared into the stone.

My eyes settled on Grim, his body regaining definition behind the heatwaves distorting the air. He turned without a word, his claws grasping for Quinn’s neck.

“Where is what is mine?”

Quinn’s werewolf form was of grey fur with white streaks around her collar and wrists. They crisscrossed before fading into the duller grey. She looked thinner than the others–shorter too–but her muscles bulged as she bowed.

“We will find out at once, Prime. But your rage will create a disaster.”

“Useless.”

His fist struck, and like Ripper she blocked the attack. A wall of ghostly organge goo sprouted from her hand and slowed the punch enough for her to move out of the way. The delay lasted only a second. The heat around Grim’s fist bubbled the liquid and exploded in a rush of steam that turned her claws black.

“If you continue, you’ll burn the tree!”

Snap!

Like the rest, she collided with the stone and slouched forward as the rubble covered her whole.

“Devon? I don’t think they’re going to stop him,” I whispered.

He turned, enough for me to see his eyes. “They will,”

How? How are you certain of that?

I didn’t get the chance to voice my concern as Elizabeth moved forward. She and Grim stared, one with a rictus of snarling wrath, and the other a calm and cold wall that withstood the continuous burning of her body.

“And you? Where is he? What have you to say?” Grim demanded.

Elizabeth lowered her head. “Quinn is right. If you continue this course, you’ll burn the tree. You’ll lose more than a single plaything, you’ll lose them all. Is this acceptable, Prime?”

I braced, ready for the impact. When it didn’t come, I dared to breathe only to blink away the sunspots as Grim’s body disappeared. I followed the trail of angry light and cut the mana from my eyes, letting the world dim if only a little. It allowed me to see him holding Elizabeth by her neck, strangling her in the air with her feet off the ground.

“He is missing. Explain.” Grim ordered.

Elizabeth clung to the magma-like claws and clawed at the flesh, managing to secure light scratches and barely anything more.

Her voice came as a strangled gasp boosted by screeching wind. “We have been betrayed.”

“Are you the traitors? All of you? Broken, jealous things? Is this your idiocy?”

She coughed, and blood oozed down her snout before hissing and steaming away. “Ne-never…”

Grimm raised her higher, and there was a echo as bones crushed beneath his grip. The pillar of flames surrounding him extended and bloomed into a sprout resembling a mushroom cloud.

“I’ve been too passive. It seems I must cull the herd, remove the ROT! No more, you are failures, abandoning your duty. My creation gives strength but breeds resentment. It’s time I purge the filth and find what is MINE!”

“Yo-you…” Elizabeth gurgled and she extended an arm. Even without the sight, I could see the energy rushing to surround it. Her fur returned as pure white, and continued to crawl up her body before stopping at her neck. Her eyes shined as brightly, matching the sun in its intensity. “I invoke the lullaby. Ode to sleep, return to rest. Pause your hunt oh Hunter. Chase the red moon on the morrow. Re-”

Snap!

Oh fuck.

Elizabeth’s face froze and her eyes popped out of their sockets as her head rolled to the side. Her arm dropped hanging limp. The background scream from the wind around her body faded and left a smoldering corpse.

He lowered her, till she was once more touching the ground.

“A child,” he muttered. His voice no longer boomed against my ears and pressured my chest. Grim changed his grip around Elizabeth’s neck and cupped her cheek. “Only a pup, a foolish foolish pup.”

In the next blink, Grim was surrounded again. Quinn and Krulg had a hand on Grim’s shoulder. Krulg’s claws dripped red, and Quinn’s was encased in a glove of the orange ectoplasm. Ripper stood closer, his claws tearing scratches along Grim’s shoulder.

In unison they spoke. “I invoke the lullaby. Ode to sleep, return to rest. Pause your hunt oh Hunter. Chase the red moon on the morrow. Rest now dear wolf, wait for the Woodsman’s passage. Giv-”

Grim sighed and the three tumbled away as the fire exploded in a ring. It continued to burn and engulf its surroundings but stopped just shy turning Garret into ash before it retracted. The mana retracted into his cloak and the glow obscuring his form receded.

Slowly, he turned and examined the room.

“To think you would learn of that wretched chant,” he spat. He sighed again and closed his eyes. “Enough. It is done. You’ve doused the anger and hidden in away. I see now that in my haste, I have committed an error.”

The three werewolves stood up, carefully getting to their feet as they stared Grimm down.

“Release her,” Ripper demanded.

Grim’s eyes narrowed. “Kneel.”

Ripper crashed to his knees and his body started to vibrate. His head raised slowly, fighting through the command before a second pulse flattened him against the ground. His claws dug into the stone but failed to find purchase before his bones started to give under the pressure.

“Prime. Please,” Quinn said.

He ignored her and grabbed Elizabeth’s other cheek before bringing her head closer. She continued to be boneless in his grip but he pressed her into his chest before stroking her fur.

“I have made a lapse in my judgement. For that, I owe an apology. Dear Elizabeth, oh child of freedom who knew only shackles. Forgive me.”

My skin crawled at the scene. The ancient immortal spoke like a madman, acting as both a loving parent and a lost child. I glanced to Devon who remained stoic, but I couldn’t see his face.

I dared not speak, not now.

Grim stopped his petting and looked down, gently kissing Elizabeth’s head before pushing her away. Her body fell backwards but he moved. It was as if she fell in slow motion. His index finger extended outward and pushed into her chest. Like a knife puncturing an apple, it slid in and stopped at the knuckle.

“Rest for now. Recover with my apologies child.”

And with a stomp, roots underneath appeared underneath Grimm and extended black braches from which rainbow motes sat at the tips. His cloak fluttered, obscuring his form before retracting, revealing only barren stone in its wake.

I watched Elizabeth’s body crash against the ground.