Betrayal (5)

5: New arrival

Dorran had been following a pack of Werewolves and a large group of Vampire clans for about a week now. He did not know much about the Vampires. Just that they were heading towards the main city. As for the Werewolves, all Dorran knew was that they were the Quicksilver pack. That Dorran found ironic. Silver was the metal that killed the Werewolves. Dorran wondered why they picked that name. But given the sheer size of the pack, Dorran guessed that the real meaning of the name had been lost in time.

Has of right now, Dorran padded about a mile behind the pack. He was walking on all fours like the Werewolves usually did when traveling. He could not wait for them to settle down somewhere. His paws were stating to hurt. Dorran had been traveling longer than either the pack or the Vampires. In fact, Dorran had traveled his entire life. Well, it was not really traveling. It was more like running. Running away from the packs and the clans.

As Dorran traveled through the forest, the sent of Vampires became stronger and stronger. Why is the pack risking getting this close to the Vampires? Dorran wondered. It definitely not because they randomly decided to make peace. No, the Werewolves were as stubborn about this war as the Vampires were.

It was mid-day when the pack stopped. They were camping in the same exact spot the Vampires camped the night before. What are they planning? Dorran could not help but wonder.

As Dorran watched the pack set up their small camp he thought over the few things he saw in the past week. There were two things that really intrigued him. The first thing was that he had seen a Werewolf and a Vampire exchange words during a battle three days ago. Yes, Vampires and Werewolves exchanged words of hate all the time, but this was different. They had spoken in an uncertain peace, but peace it was. Dorran had not been close enough to hear what they said, but he had seen their faces and they were in truce. The second thing that caught his attention was that the same wolf that spoke to the Vampire female had just undergone his Lune ceremony and was granted antlers from one of the Moon's bucks. That was unusual. How had that buck been caught by that wolf? Deer that belonged to the Moon were smarter, stronger, better in all ways than other deer. The Moon and Lune had something special in store for that wolf. Dorran wished he had that wolf's luck.

The Quicksilver pack finally settled down and about fifteen wolves went out to hunt. This was the worst time for Dorran to be out. If any of the pack saw him, he would be finished. Yeah, he was a loner, and most loners were welcomed in. But Dorran was the one kind of loner that would be ripped to shreds on the spot. He was a half-breed. A disgrace to both races. Dorran was a Werepyre.

Dorran was pulled out of his sad thoughts when he saw the horned wolf head out of camp to hunt. Out of curiosity, Dorran followed him.

The horned wolf did not go to far, just to some boulders by a stream. But what surprised Dorran was that there was the smell of Vampires here. The sent was about a day old, but still lingering in the night air. What was the Werewolf doing here?

Dorran did not have to wait long to find out. The horned wolf knelled down next to the boulder on the left. "Damn Veax...." he mumbled. "I need to see you. My pack is calling the others tonight and when they get here, they'll raid the city." the wolf's voice was think with worry. Was this 'Veax' the Vampire he had spoken to on the battlefield? "And now that I'm deputy, I have to help them raid the city. But there is still so much I want to talk to you about. So much I want to know about you and why you're against the war...." he continued. "May mother Moon and Lune grant us another meeting in peace soon." the wolf finished and stood.

The wind changed just then. And to Dorran's dismay, he was now upwind of the horned wolf. "Who's there?!" the wolf demanded, standing to his full height, and with those antlers, he looked pretty scary. "Show yourself!" he demanded again, turning in Dorran's direction. Dorran knew that no matter what he did, this wolf would find him.

After pulling himself together, Dorran stepped out of the forest and into the small clearing near the stream. The Werewolf was completely taken aback. Dorran looked like any other Werewolf with a red-black pelt and orange eyes. The only two differences about his features were his huge bat wings and unusually long and sharp canines. "Who, what, are you?" the horned wolf questioned. Dorran looked down. "I am Dorran Solitan and I am a Werepyre." he said glumly. The wolf just looked at him. "Werepyre? As in half Werewolf, half Vampire?" he questioned. Dorran nodded.

To Dorran's surprise, the wolf placed a paw on his shoulder. "I thought I'd never meet someone like you." he said, his golden eyes filled with calm. It was Dorran's turn to be taken aback. "So you're not going to go and get the rest of your pack to hunt me down?" he asked, hope growing slowly in his heart. The Werewolf nodded. "No. I won't go back to m clan and tell them about you. But right now, I need to go. I'm needed back at the camp. Tomorrow, meet me here. If I don't show up, thats because I've got something to do in the pack that I can't get away from. Alright?" the horned wolf said, smiling. Dorran lit up like a excited cub. "I'll camp here. Just to make things easier." he told the wolf.

Dorran noticed something as the horned wolf left. "Ey! Whats your name?" Dorran called to him. "Jasperain Quicksilver." he said. With that he sped off into the woods, off to actually hunt now.

Dorran sat between the two boulders wondering who Veax was. He knew what she was, but he wanted to know what she had said to get Jasperain all wrapped up in her. Then a genius idea came to his mind. "I'll ask Jasperain what Veax looks like! Then I'll change to my Human form and find her. I can sneak into the main city better than any Werewolf." he told himself with a smile.

About two hours later, the moon had risen fully in the night sky and the howling began. It was the pack. They were calling all the rest of the Werewolves from the main land. They trusted in the power of Lune to carry their voices on the wind to the other packs. By the time the Werewolf hoard got here, it would be full moon. The best time for the hoard to attack. They would only recognise their own kin and slaughter all others.
Dorran was standing with a Vampire female and Jasperain. They were the only thing between the Werewolf hoard and the Vampire army. The sky was black with the smoke of burning buildings, Dorran did not know whether it was day or night. The ground was covered in the blood of both races. Jasperain readied himself for attack while the Vampire female drew her sword. The strange thing was, they were facing their own race. As if they wanted drive back their own kin back to the shadows they came from. Jasperain and the Vampire looked at Dorran and nodded, showing him that they would all go down together. Dorran nodded in return. He knew what was going to happen now and readied himself for the pain that ran his way.

Dorran sat up. He had almost fallen into the stream. "What the hell was that?" he asked himself, remembering the dream in a vague fuzziness. He would have to tell Jasperain about this.

It had been mid-day when Dorran had woken up. Though by the looks of it, the pack had been awake since dawn. The camp was starting to take on a permanent look. Make-shift dens were being made out of wood and stone and held together by flexible roots and mud.

Dorran could see Jasperain talking to a large red-pelted wolf. By the way that Jasperain addressed the wolf, Dorran assumed that he was the Alpha. Which brought back the little tidbit of information that Dorran had heard the night before; Jasperain was the deputy of the Quicksilver clan.

Dorran did not want to stay and watch the pack all day, so he decided to see if he could catch a glimpse of the clans before the entered the city. He had to push his limbs to their limit so that he could see the clans. They must have reached the one mile marker to the city by now.

Dorran got to the city walls just in time to see the Vampire clans arrive. At the front was a tall brown-haired Vampire who was obviously in charge. Beside him stood two female Vampires. One looked about twelve with red-brown hair. The other was a tall slender woman who looked like she was in her early twenties with red hair.

Dorran could hear what the head Vampire told the gourds at the gate. "I am Carthem of the Bloodrain clan. These are my daughters, and all these Vampires behind be are from many other clans collected together." He said, gesturing to all the Vampire behind him. "A pack as large as all of us combined is heading this way and we seek refuge in the city." Carthem explained. The guard nodded and signaled for the gate to be opened.

Dorran walked back to the stream. His was worn out and did not want to push himself any further. Hopefully he would recover before the hoard arrived. Night was already dominating the light of day when Dorran reached the boulders. He gulped down seaveral mouthfuls of water when he arrived.

Hunger was another problem for Dorran. He had to be careful and hunt after the pack did. But the time it took them to hunt was never the same, so Dorran had gone about five days without food. The real problem here was that he had not fed in a month or so. Dorran knew he could last about two months without blood, but it was better for his health and sanity if he fed regularly.

Jasperain did not show up that night. Dorran knew that he must have had some deputy job to do and could not get away. Jasperain had told Dorran about that, so he was not surprised. But Dorran felt alone again. He hated feeling alone. He had been alone all of the three-hundred years he had been alive. His parents had been found out and killed. They had tried to kill Dorran too, but had was a small cub and got away. Dorran had been running ever since.