Chapter Ten - Wangs

A week later, the company of two dozen men was ready to leave. Fall was beginning to creep into the air, and the leaves were just starting to turn colors. The heat of the summer was retreating, and the nights were growing colder. When they provisioned, they expected they might still be gone in the winter. Several wagons, filled with provisions and Susana's precious paintings and supplies, had been added to support them.

Lise put her things in her saddlebag and checked her horse, sliding her hands over his brown, gleaming withers.

She spied Oliver next to her, arguing with the Knight Commander. He had thrown off his cloth and had not yet put on his chestplate. Lise could see the design from his brand peeking out of his shirt.

“Listen, Dean. I say you send me alone. There is no need to put everyone in danger. I know what I need to do,” Oliver argued. For the past few weeks, he had retreated, and Lise was feeling a little hurt. She wanted to help him, but he just withdrew from her more and more. It was like the night they walked together on the street had never happened, although she did catch him staring at her, but then he would look away quickly.

“You have never been east. You don’t know where to go, and for all we know, they will kill you the minute they see you. We aren't sending you alone. Now, stop arguing with your commander and get in line!” Dean shouted, his face going as red as his hair, and pointed to the paladins all getting their horses ready.

Pouting, Oliver turned on his heel and brushed past Lise, not even acknowledging her. She blinked back tears and turned her head away. She caught her brother looking over them, and he caught her eye, frowning.

Her brother’s eyes glanced over to Oliver, and he raised his eyebrow. Lise knew her brother would always look after her, but this was a problem she had to deal with herself. She shook her head slightly, signaling to her brother to stay out of it.

With the others, she mounted her horse, and they started out of the castle and city. Her and her horse's breath rose in the crisp morning air, and the grass was outlined in frost. They headed due east on the new cobblestone road, their horses' hooves clopping into the quiet morning light.

Lost in her thoughts, Lise rode with her head down. Her horse obligingly followed the horse in front of it, so she held the reins loosely. Only once did she look back and catch Oliver's eye. He was staring at her, four paladins back, the muscle in his jaw twitching angrily.

So she looked back down again, until Susana dropped back to talk to her. “Don’t mind him, Lise,” she said kindly.

“Where do you think we will camp tonight?” Lise asked, quickly changing the subject. She didn't want to talk about Oliver.

“We will reach the village of Haversheen by nightfall, I think. It’s a new frontier village. After the work camp moved east, people moved in and started homesteading.”

“Is there an inn?” Lise asked.

“No, unfortunately not, only a few small buildings. There is a field just outside the village we can stay in. It’s a friendly place, though.”

They continued on their way, and not once did Oliver ride up to speak to her. By the end of the day, she was furious at him. When they reached the village, they stopped just outside.

Lise set up her and Susana’s tent. As she struggled with the tent poles, a hand reached around her to hold the pole steady as she tied the ties. Looking up, she saw Oliver, looking down at her.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me,” Lise said, the hurt coming out in her voice.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said. “I'm angry, and I didn't want to take it out on you.”

“What are YOU angry about, Oliver?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Your brother sent us on a fool's mission. He could have just sent me,” he said. “I’m worried you're in danger.”

She felt her anger dissipating. “You know, I can take care of myself.”

He nodded. “You can. But that doesn’t make me any less worried.” He picked up a tent stake and pushed it through the edge of the tent and into the soft ground.

Once the tent was up, she stood and looked at it. “It’ll do for Susana and me. Who is your tent mate?”

He looked sheepish. “No one wanted to share with me. Apparently, my bad mood scared them all off, even Patrick, who told me to pull myself together. I ended up with Thom.”

Lise held up her hand and chuckled. Thom was a new paladin, just initiated into the order in the spring. He was eager and zealous and asked a million questions a day.

The tent was hiding them from view from the others. Oliver tipped up her chin and kissed her. “I love it when you laugh, Lise.”

She swatted playfully at him, glad he was back to his old self. “Don’t ignore me again, or I'll sic Susana on you,” she teased.

Shaking his head, he pulled her closer and kissed her again, when Patrick came around the corner and stopped suddenly. “Made up, did we?” he chuckled. “Hey, I need an extra hand. We can’t find the vittles in the provision wagons.”

***

It was some time later when Dean and Susana galloped back into camp. Susana was looking over her shoulder. As they stopped, they both drew their swords.

“What’s going on?” Patrick said, as they all drew their swords, looking around for a threat.

Dean said nothing for a minute, breathing heavily, his eyes scanning the horizon. “We were chased by a wang from just outside the village. But it seems to have broken away. Those things are huge. Everyone needs to keep their swords handy, and we will set a double watch tonight.”

Susana put her sword away. “I shot fireballs at it. I think I scared it away. I hate those things. They stalked us last trip and killed two of our horses one night."

It was a new moon that night, and they ate a nervous dinner in the dark.

“Whoooooo.” A howl in the distance caused them all to jump. Then an answering call from farther away caused shivers to race down Lise’s spine.

Susana leaned down and whispered in Lise’s ear, “I’m bedding down in Patrick's tent tonight.”

“How?” Lise asked, looking towards her friend, who was whittling away at a stick as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He glanced up and gave her a wink.

“We have an odd number of men. Unlucky 13, and of course, the Knight Commander has his own tent. Patrick claimed the extra tent for us.”

Lise pursed her lips. “Okay then, hopefully the wangs don’t eat me in the middle of the night.”

“You could always get Oliver to protect you,” Susana whispered, then looked patiently at her friend.

Lise smiled, and then took her post. She had first watch, along with Thom. He was a gangly young man, with hair that stood straight on end. He fidgeted with the buckles on his chestplate and was paying no attention to the woods.

“Hey,” she said loudly, “pay attention.” He awkwardly stood, shifting on his feet and fidgeting.

“Yes, Princess.” He scuffed his boot on the ground and didn’t meet her eyes.

“Hey!” she snarled. If she had hackles, they would be raised. “Don’t call me that. When I’m on duty, I’m Lise Armond, got it?”

He mumbled his apologies and stood ramrod straight. The rest of the knights retired to their tents, and the quietness of the evening sat in. Only the gentle snoring of the Knight Commander could be heard, along with some howls in the distance.

After about an hour, Thom dared to break the silence. “Prince—” He started to say, then remembered himself, “Lise, do you think those wangs are close?”

She rolled her eyes. “Shhh,” she hissed. “No talking.”

So for the next hour, afraid of Lise’s reprimands, Thom kept his mouth shut, until it was time for the next pair to take their place.

Lise glanced over at Thom as he entered his and Oliver’s tent. Inside, she just caught a glance at Oliver, who winked at her. He had his shirt and chestplate off, and she could see the intricate design of the brand, dark on his skin. “Goodnight, Princess,” Oliver said.

And she found it didn’t bother her when HE called her that. She let the flap of her tent fall, and then quickly took off her chestplate, leaving only her chemise and trousers. The cold pebbled her skin, and she wrapped up in two scratchy wool blankets before laying her head on her bag and falling asleep.

***

She awoke to the yells of the guards and a bone-shattering roar. Rolling out of her blankets, she grabbed her sword and stared at the canvas wall of her tent. The clouds had moved away, and now the moon shone brightly, leaving the shadow of an immense animal outlined on the tent wall in front of her.

She heard a snarl, and in front of her, the creature swiped its paw. Her tent came away in two parts, revealing a fearsome wang.

The wang was a massive beast, with the snout and stance of a wolf. But it was twice as big as any wolf Lise had seen. Its fur was black, and its head hung low. It opened its mouth to roar and revealed fangs as long as her arm.

Before she could react, it leapt at her, and her sword arm came up. Its teeth closed around her sword, snatching it away.

It spit it out, and her sword went clattering away.

Having no other option, she called forth her holy magic shield. It glowed around her, and the wang jumped up against it, the force of it throwing her to the ground.

Outside, she could hear more fearsome growls and shouts of alarm and panic.

An ear-piercing scream from Oliver’s tent caused her head to twist, and she saw another wang on top of the collapsed tent, its jaws on someone or something.

“NO!” She screamed, filling her hands now with fire, and throwing flame towards the black wang trying to get to her, throwing itself again and again at her shield. The flame hit it, and it whimpered and scampered off.

She retrieved her sword and turned towards Oliver’s tent. But she saw Oliver, shirtless, his own hands filled with magic.

The wang shook its head, and in horror, she saw the arm of Thom detach from his body, clutched in the creature's fangs.

Oliver yelled and threw more fire at the wang, but this one had the taste of blood, and it dropped the arm and attacked Thom again.

Then, it stopped and stared at Oliver, its eyes fixed on his chest. It let out a howl and turned to run away.

But Oliver pulled out his sword, and Lise jumped forward. Together, they plunged their swords into the beast at the same time, and it fell dead, in a pool of blood, at Oliver’s feet.

Four other wangs had attacked in a pack, and the paladins had emerged from their tents to fight the beasts, but when the first wang howled, they pulled back and ran towards Oliver.

Oliver and Lise stood back to back with their swords as what was left of the wangs ran around them, each one staring at Oliver as they ran by.

“What in Hades was that?” Oliver said, his face ashen white. He turned and knelt by Thom.

Lise dropped to her knees on the other side of Thom, her knees in his sticky blood, smelling the rusty scent of his spilled lifeforce.

He was already dead; the wang had mauled him. Oliver leaned over and closed the young man’s eyes as Dean Torn came up behind them, shirtless, with a vivid smear of red across his chest.

“A prayer for the dead,” Dean mumbled, “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen,” and he made the sign of the cross. Then, he looked at Oliver and Lise.

Lise was shaking and white. Oliver rose to his knees and took her hands, helping her up.

“Are you okay, Princess?” Dean asked.

“I wish people would stop calling me that,” she said weakly. “But yes, I’m fine.”

Dean looked around the shambles of the camp. Thom was the only fatality, although there were a half dozen minor injuries.

“They don’t like fire. From now on, I want as big a bonfire every night as we can manage, and the tents are going to be closer, in a circle, with the wagons arranged in a wall. We will put two men on the wagons. I should have listened to Susana when she warned me.”

“Yes, you should have,” Susana said sourly, her arms crossed against her thin chemise.

Already, two of the initiate paladins were wrapping Thom’s body in his wool blanket silently.

“We bury him tomorrow,” Dean said sadly. “Move him near the fire, so hopefully it won’t draw the wangs.”

Oliver glanced over at his ruined tent. “Yours is cut but still standing. Can I bunk with you?”

“Yes,” Lise said, her teeth chattering. They crawled back into the tent, with the side open and flapping, as the rest of the knights retreated into their tents.

Oliver, without asking, wrapped his arms around her and covered them both with her blankets.

With his warm body wrapped around her, it still took her some time to warm up. She traced the brand on his skin and the wolf head on his chest. “Oliver, I don’t think this is a wolf head. I think it’s a wang head.”

He mumbled into her hair, “I know. I think it stopped attacking us because the wang saw it.”

“What does that mean?” she asked as he hugged her fiercely. The heat of his body was making her almost too hot now.

“I don’t know, Lise,” he said, his eyes filled with pain.

She sighed and glanced over her shoulder. The tent still flapped in the breeze, but all the other tents were behind them, no one could see what she was about to do.

She rolled on top of him, straddling him. He looked at her with lidded eyes. “Lise…” His hands reached up, encircling her waist, and then slipped under the thin white fabric of her top. She slipped off her chemise over her head slowly and then ground her hips against him.

He gasped, and then his hands found her trouser buttons at the same time as her hands found his.