Chapter Five: Rescue
Selina squeezed the trigger on her pistol the moment the hobo in front of her moved. She was nimble, but the guy was much faster. Inhumanely so. She tried to keep up with him, shooting at him, but her bullets were a millisecond slower, thus only hitting air and the soil surrounding them. When she had emptied her barrel, she knew it was futile to resist, so she closed her eyes, expecting a painful death that never came.
There was growling, groaning, and scuffling behind her. She opened her eyes, spun around, and took several steps back. On the ground, the guy was grappling with someone or something. It was thin, lanky, and had a head of a dog. The princess’ eyes widened in surprise as she realized, with the help of the large white moon, that it was a werewolf. Selina became acutely aware of her surroundings. She could hear growling and snarling from everywhere. She could not see them, but she knew the repulsive beings surrounded her.
When Selina heard a yelp, she turned to face the stranger and the werewolf. The man held the creature by the neck and decapitated it with his bare hands in quick movements. One werewolf howled, and the others soon followed. The sound terrified her, and the hair on her nape stood on end. She could hear sadness in it too, but was overpowered by the rage and hatred. The princess did not know these vile creatures could feel sadness. She brushed it off as anthropomorphising the werewolves. They were human, sure, but not tonight. Not when they’re in this form. With shaking hands, she quickly reloaded her weapon and started shooting blindly. The princess knew she hit her marks because of the yelping. However, what she did only angered the werewolves. The growls were deafening as they approached.
“Get inside,” the stranger said, leaving Selina perplexed and rooted on the spot.
“You can talk?” She did not know why she said that, and why she was already moving to obey him.
A werewolf jumped towards the princess, but the guy blocked it, tossing it away. “Yes! Get your ass in that carriage, now!”
Selina dashed towards her carriage as another werewolf lunged at her. The stranger blocked the creature once more, this time by thrusting his hand into the creature’s body. He then let go of it, its heart still warm and beating in his hand. The princess got in her vehicle without a scratch, locking the doors. Thank the Rozen Maiden, her carriage was like a fortress. It was made of the hardest metal alloy in Terran, and they made the windows from a sturdy material harder than diamonds. Becca and her stepmother were still unconscious, but they seemed all right to her. She moved towards the window and watched in fear as the stranger growled angrily before shifting. He clawed at his skin as he grew rapidly and significantly taller. He was still humanoid in appearance and stood upright, but was completely covered in dark gray fur. She couldn’t see clearly, but she guessed that his head had also transformed into a wolf’s. She saw him claw at his face and discarding a large patch of skin. He was nothing like the werewolves who had attacked him. His movements were precise and skilled, in contrast to the creatures who attacked ferociously and without rhyme or reason. He was killing them one by one, an immense pile already forming at his feet.
Just then, the attacks stopped, and Selina had to press her face in the glass to see what was happening. The werewolves were about to attack the guy, but for some reason they stopped to look behind them, then started whimpering, their heads and ears down, as if afraid. From the darkness of Lupine Pass, an enormous black wolf appeared. It was almost as tall as Selina’s carriage and it was snarling and barking, its sharp teeth bared.
Selina’s heart sank. She felt nauseous as the air became thicker, as if she were breathing molasses. This gigantic wolf emitted pure evil. She could feel it, she could almost taste it.
“You,” a dark voice said, making Selina tremble. “One of us.”
“No.” The stranger shed his fur and turned back to his human form. “I’m not like you. You’re a behekoa, the accursed. A creature most foul.”
The wolf growled, its evil red eyes glowing in contempt. “One of you. Lycan.”
Selina let out a bloodcurdling scream. A werewolf appeared out of nowhere in front of her, and she was understandingly surprised. She backed away from her seat as far as she could, although she was still inside the carriage and the creature was still outside. The princess reached for the box of bullets, but it was empty. After that, the carriage started moving. A swarm of werewolves were jostling the carriage, scratching and reaching for them. Becca and the queen stirred and began to wake. They started screaming when they realized monsters surrounded them.
What is happening?” Helena exclaimed, getting up and cramming herself beside Selina.
“Is that our coachman?” Becca blurted out, pointing at the werewolf snarling at them outside the window. Sure enough, it was the coachman. He had the face of an ugly, balding dog but his uniform, which was covered in rips and blood, had the Rozenberg colors and insignia.
“You poor, poor man.” The queen touched the glass, and it made the werewolf coachman snarl at them like crazy. “Your poor family...”
Selina could not care less about this monster’s family right then. What mattered was their survival. Her survival, most of all. If it came to that, she’d have no problem using these two women as bait to escape.
The princess’ ear then picked up a sound that sounded like a fabric being ripped apart and the werewolves surrounding the carriage disappeared one by one. She heard a snapping sound from the vehicle’s roof.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Rain?” Becca asked, confused.
It was raining, all right. But not of water, bullets. A few minutes later, she heard a voice booming from a megaphone.
“Princess Selina? Are you there?”
Selina moved to look out of the window, but her stepmother stopped her. “What if it’s a trap?”
“I can hear a helicopter. Henry has to be here to save me.”
A loud knock from the window stopped them from their budding argument, and when they turned to look, they saw a man wearing a white helmet beckoning at them.
“Everyone all right?” he asked. “Is Princess Selina with you?”
The princess leaned forward. “Are you here to rescue us?”
“Yes. My name is Mitchell.” He pulled out a leather wallet from his pocket and showed the princess his badge with the Volfenheim Coat of Arms. “His Majesty, the King asked us to find you.”
“I am Selina. There are werewolves out there. And a giant wolf. Is it safe to go out? We have a pregnant passenger here.”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness, but we must hurry.”
They exited the carriage after Selina unlocked it. The werewolves who had been terrorizing them only moments before lay dead on the ground. There was smoke coming out of their bodies, which meant the ‘rain’ they heard before were silver bullets. The princess and her lady-in-waiting had to navigate through the bodies to get to the helicopter, which was only a few feet away from their wrecked vehicle. When they entered, the pilot greeted them and handed them headsets to help drown out the whirring sound of the rotor blades. Mitchel and the pregnant queen, whom he had to carry bridal style because she couldn’t run, were the last to board the helicopter. Selina looked out the window, staring into the darkness, as the vehicle rose from the ground. She had no idea where the stranger had gone; he was not among the bodies, she checked. However, she realized she didn’t care. The stranger was still a werewolf, a monster. That guy could have done it to gain her trust and then eat them. The princess felt a little better because the monster wolf wasn’t there anymore either. The air was thinner now, she could breathe easier, and she couldn’t sense the malevolent aura.
“Where are you taking us?” Selina asked after a while.
“We need to get you to Lyall Palace.” The man with the white helmet looked at them. “It’s a little further away, but it’s safe there. Her Imperial Majesty is there waiting for your arrival.”
“Is Henry going to be there?”
The pilot and Mitchell exchanged looks.
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