The Judgement Of Divinity (TMOE #2)

Chapter 13: Knocked back

"Back away slowly," Richard instructed them as he stood firm to block the other werewolf's path. "Dreyshkan man, ready that rifle of yours."

Ivan blinked, clearly torn at the idea. Lucius could imagine the thought process that was going through his head. The sight of a werewolf to begin with, then the idea to shoot a sacred being of his faith, and then the doubt that he'd actually succeed. A lot of information was being dropped and Lucius knew those following, bewildering thoughts very well.

"We don't want any trouble," Richard called out, but then lowered his voice to address Tom. "There's no way I'm quick enough to change back if she charges. Please tell me you have some kind of idea."

"Nerve poison," Tom suggested, reaching into his pocket. "Not nearly enough to shut down a body of that size, but maybe hinder her for a while."

Then the garm let out a loud snarl and took a step forward. The mere sound of her paw against the stone floor was enough to tell Lucius that her weight definitely matched her size. Fortunately, that could serve as an advantage for them. With her body so cramped in that space she'd have a hard time rushing against them without risking falling into the water.

"Well, I don't think you have a choice but to try," Tom then whispered, and Richard threw Ivan a hesitant glance.

"But—"

"I'm not stupid," Ivan interrupted him, still with an uncertain look in his eyes, but perhaps the appearance of one werewolf had been enough to confirm any earlier suspicions concerning Richard.

"Al—Alright, that's—" Richard began but the rest of his sentence was drowned out by a roar from the garm and before Lucius could react she'd began moving towards them. As he'd expected, she couldn't move as quickly as he figured a werewolf should be able to, but her stride was nothing to underestimate even so.

"Lucius, can you throw your knife?" Tom hurriedly asked as panic filled his voice and he brought out the vial of poison from his pocket. "Coat it in this and aim for its chest."

Lucius gritted his teeth. He'd thrown a knife once or twice before, but the ones he carried weren't particularly well balanced for throwing and he doubted it would cut into the target anyway.

"Fuck it," Richard said and began stepping forward. "Just—Just try to get away as far as possible. I should be able to—"

Then he was suddenly pulled backwards and Ivan shoved him into the rest of the group.

"Cover your ears and run," he hissed, and Lucius watched in horror and confusion as he turned to face the werewolf. What the Waste was he thinking? What could a regular human do? He wasn't even able to run quickly.

To everyone's further confusion Ivan threw a pouch between him and the approaching garm and began backing away as well, giving the group a quick glare.

"I said cover your ears!"

Lucius obeyed out of sheer shock and watched as Ivan leaned his cane against the wall before raising his rifle to take aim.

Just as the werewolf reached the spot where the pouch had landed Ivan fired his shot, but to Lucius' great dismay it missed its target and hit the wall right next to it instead.

Or rather, it hit the torch that was placed there, and the rest of the group finally realised why they were covering their ears.

Ivan had already turned around to push them backwards when the torch fell from the wall and hit the pouch of gunpowder in front of the huge creature.

The ignition was near instantaneous and as smoke engulfed the area Lucius dared to look back at the scene. It was hard to discern, but the howls from the creature and a light glow here and there suggested it may be in need of a new coat of fur. He dared to breathe out only a little, but knew it would be foolish to stop running. Instead he grabbed hold of Ivan and pulled him along to make their escape as quick as possible.