The Tragedy of Yinx - 1. The Wolf and the Moon

~14 Years Later~

Laneer Bancroft

“Well done, Gentlemen!” Captain Yeorly smiles.

Beatrix clears her throat loudly.

“A-and to you as well, Madame.” The Captain quicky gets out.

Beatrix just gives a smirk and winks at me. I just shake my head with a smile and hold my hand out.

Captain Yeorly quickly drops a rather heavy bag full of gold coin, into my hand.

“If you get another Bandit problem,” I say before turning to leave, “you know who to call.”

“Ah yes! I will let your Father know if I have need of your assistance.” He calls behind me.

I give a small sigh at that but keep walking. He does not need to ask my Father but I guess I would end up with the contract anyway.

I open the bag and split the three hundred gold between the two of us. I sneak about twenty extra gold for Beatrix. I do not really need the gold honestly. Being the king’s son kind of sets you for life.

“Off to The Unicorn’s Blood?” Beatrix gives a sly smile.

I feel a blush begin to form on my cheeks.

“Maybe...you care this time because?” I raise an eyebrow.

Beatrix circles around me with her hands shoved into her pockets.

“Oh I am just curious. You have been there almost every evening now. I would like to see what bitch has pushed this dog into a little rut this early.”

My eyes practically bulge out and I quickly cover her mouth with my hand.

“Calm down, will you?” I glance around us but nobody heard or said anything. I pull my hand away. “You play around too much.” I frown.

It is not funny to joke about the wolf curse. Especially in a public place as this. I mean it is on the castle grounds and the Captain already knows the family secret, but for Beatrix to casually flaunt it around like that? It is a bad idea.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh please, nobody really believes those stories. It is all just good fun.”

I huff and cross my arms. “They made a song about it. How is that possibly good fun?”

Beatrix pulls my by the arm and we leave the guard barracks and make our way into the city.

The city of Avelin is always calmer at this time of day. Most of the people have just closed their shops and make their ways home. Most homes have their windows glowing thanks to their candlelight. Green and gold banners hold the city’s emblem. A wolf’s head that has a circle of vines surrounding it.

“It is fun because they made a song about your family gobbling up children! What isn’t fun about that?” Beatrix grins and walks with her head held high.

“It makes me feel awful.” I grumble and glance up at the sky.

The sun can not really be seen as of now. It hides behind the hundreds of buildings here. Orange clouds still fly high in the sky.

“Enough about the stupid song. Tell me about your little lover that has made you absent from your family dinners.” She bites her lip and bounces her eyebrows.

I laugh and push at her shoulder. I still feel heat spreading down my neck.

“Since you are coming with me, I will let you see for yourself.” I smile and turn to keep my eyes on the road.

A few people walk along the sidewalks and a few others ride their horses. One holds a wagon filled with straw. I wrinkle my nose at the smell.

“Oh with that face, they must be one ugly motherfucker, huh?” Beatrix laughs next to me.

I roll my eyes. “They are not ugly at all! They are just...perfect.” I sigh and smile to myself.

I hear a gag next to me.

“Please warn me the next time you want to be disgusting.” Beatrix holds her hand to her chest armor. “I can only handle so much!”

I chuckle and keep walking. The Serendian Singer is barely there honestly. Perhaps I will be lucky to see him tonight. He only seems to be there at least twice a week. I haven’t seen him stop by at all for the past three days so hopefully he will be there.

I just hope Beatrix behaves if he happens to be there. I have a feeling she would push things a little too far.

The sign hanging above the Unicorn’s Blood tavern has a unicorn’s horn carved on with blood dripping from the very tip. Big white painted letters spell out the tavern’s name.

I push open the door and I am immediately filled with the smell of sweat, piss, and vomit. I try my best to not let the smell get to me and quickly look for a seat near the fire pits.

The tavern is two stories high. The top floor is for the owner of the place, Damond. He is a big old man who definitely does sketchy things on the side. He always has someone sitting on his lap. It makes me angry to know that sometimes the Serendian would be seen sitting there.

Damond is sitting in his usual chair that is above the bartender. His lap is empty tonight. That is most likely a good thing.

The bottom floor is full of crowded tables and chairs. Two giant, rectangular fire pits sit in the very middle.

It keeps the place nice and warm from the cold nights. Since it is the winter, the fires are almost always put on at night.

I slip into a chair and Beatrix falls into the one next to me. Almost instantly, a barmaid walks over to set down two mugs of ale.

I grab mine and take a hard swallow. Beatrix raises an eyebrow at me.

“And just how often do you come here?” She asks before sipping on her drink.

I just shrug.

“Every now and then.” I simply say. I definitely have not been here almost every day for the past two weeks ever since I found the white-haired beauty.

Beatrix just hums to herself and looks around.

“Well, where is he?” She asks, eyeing the rowdy patrons near the entrance.

I shrug again.
“No idea. I, uh, I don’t really know when he comes here. It is a bit random.” I fidget with my fingers on the table.

She smirks at me and pats my arm. “I’ll get us something to eat.”

Beatrix stands and pushes her way towards the front to speak with a barmaid.

I glance around and don’t see the Serendian anywhere. He should be fairly easy to spot. Nobody else here has hair as white as his or skin that is brown like a nice milky chocolate.

With skin like that, I wonder if it tastes like chocolate. Would it be nice and warm? Everytime I see him, his skin just looks like the softest thing in the world.

I frown and lean back in my chair. It would be a real bummer if he wasn’t present tonight.

I look up to the ceiling and I all of a sudden forget how to breathe.

The Serendian is sitting on the rafters above us. He has his back to a wooden beam, one leg on the rafter, and the other leg hanging off. He is so close to us!

How did he even get up there? I could have swore he was blind. His eyes are that eerie paled out color that only the blind people have. I wonder what color his eyes were before. Was he always blind?

He has a lyre on his lap. It appears that he is tuning it? I can’t really hear anything thanks to the loud crowd that is here tonight.

The Serendian does not look down what his work. He constantly stares straight ahead of himself. His hands working along on their own. I guess when you do this so many times, you get used to it.

He tilts his head as he plucks at a string. Listening for any possible changes that are needed.

He nods to himself. I smile.

“Oh! Is that him?” Beatrix plops down next to me. She brought two bowls of some kind of veggie stew.

“Vegetables?” I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

“Yup” She smirks and blows on her hot bowl. I guess I will have to go hunting tonight.

I frown and blow on a spoonful before tasting the stew. I guess it is not so bad. I just really need some meat. The wolf inside will not be happy with just this.

Music begins to play above us and I sit back to listen. It is a nice happy tune. I love listening to him play. It calms me and the wolf down. I guess we both can agree on something for once.

The loud patrons from before seem to calm down a bit, the music almost like a spell. It seems to calm everyone in the building. There is still the usual chatter, just no more of that loud shouting.

“So?” Beatrix nudges my shoulder. “Is it him or was I wrong and your bitch still isn’t here?”

“Don’t call him that.” I growl lowly. I blink and sit up straight. I have never growled at Beatrix before. That surely isn’t a good thing.

Beatrix just laughs and swats at my arm. “Well wasn’t that just cute!”

I can feel the wolf fidgeting inside, no doubt it feels challenged.

“Shut up.” I huff and glance back up.

A smile is on the Serendian’s lips. Nice, full lips that I just want to-

“Have you spoken to him yet?” Beatrix says out of nowhere. At least it felt out of nowhere.

I shake my head and bring my gaze back to her.

She gasps out and clutches at her chest in shock. No doubt it is an act.

“How are you supposed to get in his pants if you are too chicken to speak to him?”

I roll my eyes and shove a spoonful of soup down my throat.

“Don’t ignore me!” She smacks on the table near my bowl of stew.

“Did you really have to get this kind of stew?” I sigh and put it away from me.

I am only met with silence. I can feel her eyes staring me down however.

“Fine! I am too scared alright? I do not want to make a fool of myself.” I say and cross my arms over my chest.

I have plenty of reasons not to speak to him. I do not want to burden him with possibly joining my family. He is blind and I don’t want him to think I am taking advantage of him. A big reason would be that my father would have an absolute fit if he learned I wanted to court a Serendian of all things.

I guess there is always the fear of rejection, but there are always other people right? That is what you are supposed to tell yourself. Yet, I feel as if this is different. I do not know if I can do this honestly.

It just seems so problematic. A racist father, bloodline problems, mate problems? Yeah that alone just makes me nervous. It also makes me a little turned on but I seriously doubt Beatrix needs to know that.

“That is just precious.” Beatrix smiles with her head on her hands. “The great prince of the city is too scared to talk to a boy. Oh the stories and songs they will write now!”

I sigh and force down the rest of my drink. I should leave. I can feel anger wanting to burst out at all this teasing. The damn wolf is hungry and hearing all this from Beatrix is only making this worse for me.

Mainly for me because I really don’t want to give in to the temptation to bitchslap Beatrix.

“I am going hunting.” I say as calmly as I can. I will not let my anger control me.

Beatrix just nods with a knowing smile. The wolf inside just wants to bite her hard. I won’t be giving into that.

It also wants to pull the Serendian down and fuck his brains out on this table but that is something I definitely won’t be giving into.

I take one last look at the Serendian and then turn to leave.

~~~
~~~

The God of Darkness

Hmm...what to do, what to do?

Oh! What do we have here?

A lonely werewolf is out here in my playground tonight. The moon shines high but it is not a full moon. The werewolf comes willingly? Interesting. Usually they try to fight it until they inevitably fail and massacre a group of humans.

No, this one is smart. It comes out far into the woods to hunt. Perfect.

He will be just what I need.

I bring myself down into the shadows of the trees to watch the werewolf.

Hmm. He removes his hood, red hair and brown eyed. A short beard that is taken care of. This werewolf takes care of his appearance. Bonus points for me.

He starts to remove the rest of his armor. It looks well taken care of. Possibly lives next to a blacksmith?

He is naked now. He is tall and built like an ox. Even better! I love when it is the humans who think they are strong.

He is quite hairy. Chest, arms, legs are completely covered. A trail of hair leads down to his cock.

I wish he could just hurry up and get on with the transformation.

He stands there for a moment, I am guessing that he is listening to his surroundings. Is he trying to smell out his next meal?

Finally, finally, he starts the transformation. He cries out and clutches at his chest. He groans in pain as his true form begins to fight for control.

The sound of bones crackings fills the air. The werewolf tries to keep his cries silent but he can’t fight it back any longer.

Brownish-reddish hair beings to sprout all over his skin, his arms and legs grow longer, his body wider, and his face gives one last human scream before a wolf’s face replaces it.

The werewolf stands on two legs and clutches at his chest. It breathes heavily and digs one of its clawed hands into the ground.

A great beautiful wolf. Strange how he chose to use this form instead of the more animal form. I guess he still fights for some control.

The wolf lets out a growl before it bellows out to the sky. A loud howl flies out from the wolf’s maw.

I smile to myself. Just in time!

I summon some chains and they slither through the grass and wrap around the werewolf’s arms, chest, and legs. They pull him to a strong tree nearby and they tighten enough so that he will not be free.

Now, we wait. My champion shall be here soon.

~~~
~~~

Laneer

What is this? Where did these chains come from?

I pull against the chains to try and free my hand but that only seems to make them tighter.

I growl and continue to fight back. Oh gods, if the town learned about the death of a werewolf so close to home…

I shake my head from my thought and clench my teeth and I wiggle my wrists around in hopes of getting a small opening for freedom.

After about five minutes, I have given up. Instead I cry out to whatever is out there. Maybe if I am lucky, someone from the castle will hear me and come and free me from this wretched magic.

It had begun to snow a little after the chains had snuck up on me. A light blanket of snow now covers the ground. Little flakes continue to fall. This just makes me feel even worse honestly.

These are not ordinary chains. There were no attackers. I didn’t smell anything. I couldn’t smell anything!

I growl and try to pull against the chains once more but I do not even budge.

I howl. What else could I do? Perhaps other wolves would see me and help me? I doubt that would work but what have I got to lose?

A voice echoes into the night. Is...is that singing?

I tilt my ears to my right. It is coming from Avelin? Or at least it is in the direction of Avelin.

Um...I do not know if I want someone to notice me now. Perhaps it was best not to bring attention to myself.

The voice starts to become clearer. Their voice echoes through the trees and seems to be carried through the wind. It sets me at ease but it is also...scary?

The words finally begin to make sense. It is the wolf song about my family. Usually it has a more giddy tone but this, this is more haunting.

“-ey will come at night,
Bring you quite the fright.

Paint your door with silver,
Or prepare for slaughter.

Best keep close, your sister,
Or she’ll lose a fing-”

The singing stops.

Instead, other voices begin to make their way here. It sounds like a group of men.

I see small balls of orange light in front of me. Yes it is a group of men. They hold torches and what looks like silver spears.

Oh gods. Don’t tell me this is how I’ll die. Dying to my own people. Damn you granddad for giving us this stupid curse.

“Oh well look at what we have here?” A man with long greasy hair smiles with crooked teeth. A few of them are either missing or brown.

“We have quite the big one, eh?” He calls to his friends.

I growl and bare my teeth.

“Ah he’s trying to act tough. Don’t be dismayed my friends. He will be dead within two minutes.”

All four men make their way towards me. Their spears are held in front of them, sharp shiney silver point straight at me.

I growl again and try to snap my teeth at one of the spears. It causes them to step back but they quickly laugh to themselves before moving towards me again.

I hear a small sound before an arrow sticks out of the greasy haired man’s neck.

He falls to the floor and the three other men shout in horror and confusion.

Three sounds of arrows go off in quick succession. In only three seconds, all three men fall to the floor dead. Blood begins to pool on the snow beneath them.

I breathe in hard and try and look through the snow. To my right is...the Serendian?

He hasn’t moved from where he shot his last arrow. A beautiful black and gold bow is in his hands.

He wears he usual attire. A fur vest that is not long enough to cover his hips. Leather pants, and leather boots. He has a fur cloak with his hood on. Never seen him with that. Out of everything, I am pretty sure he made vest by himself. It even looks homemade. Which isn’t bad. I would never say its bad anyway. I wouldn’t mind buying him an actual vest however.

He still hasn’t moved. He doesn’t really look at where he killed the men. Just stares blankly ahead. How did he even shoot them? How did he even get here? Why is he alone? A blind man in the woods is just all kinds of bad.

His eyes are narrowed as if he is thinking.

Finally he moves. With a wave of his hands, his bow and quiver are gone. He’s...he’s a mage?

Oh gods. That brings even more trouble. I would never tell anyone of course but...that is very risky of him. Using magic is illegal. All forms of magic are considered the work of demons. Honestly, I can agree with that.

I will keep his secret safe.

The Serendian walks slowly towards me, the moonlight shines down on him, the hood creates a shadow over his eyes.

I swear he can see me. It feels as if he can see me.

I try to steady my breathing but the wolf is freaking out. It wants to run but it also wants to touch. I...I want to run but I also want to touch.

The Serendian stands in front of me, he doesn’t show any emotion. Every now and then he blinks when snow happens to fall on his cheek. He reaches to his belt and pulls out a dagger.

I feel my throat close up and I just about choke on my own voice.

I whimper and try to wiggle myself away from the blind man but it does nothing.

The Serendian raises his other hand and rests it gently on my stomach. I freeze.

I still breathe heavily but I try not to move. Why is he being gentle if he is about to kill me.

I lock my eyes with the Serendian but of course, he is blind. He looks up at me however. Could he feel that I was looking at him? Isn’t that something blind people can feel?

The Serendian brings the dagger close to my chest and slips it under the chain. With a pull, the chain snaps.

Snaps?

I look down and see the chains are no longer chains, but they are made of rope? Regular thin rope.

The Serendian makes quick work and frees me from the...rope. I could have easily cut myself free of them. I know there were chains before. What’s happening?

I rub at my arms and chest and look down at the Serendian beneath me.

He gives a small smile and then walks away. He walks deeper into the woods. Disappearing into the trees and shadows.