Medrith; The Origin Of House Wollstone (PREVIEW)

chapter V; hounds

The sound of clamping hooves bounced off the brick road as multiple horses in blinding armor pranced up the steep hill. The rocky waters of the Siren Sea clashed against the hill, leading up to the Royal Palace. Yellow steeds with white mane carried men in matching armor, inching closer to the castle. 

Skies crackled with sudden thunder, a sign of a nearby storm made way to Mendwell.  Captain Lee grunted, kicking his legs up, "Hiya!" His stallion sprinted. Rain started sprinkling, landing on the iron pauldrons with a chiming beat. The sulking clouds covered the afternoon sun, seemingly mistaking it as dawn.

Captain Lee held tightly onto the reins in an attempt to beat the storm. Successful, he pulls the reins back in a halt. "Aye." He soothed to his horse. The others shortly followed behind, doing the same. Hopping off their mounts, servants came leading the horses to the stables. Lee motioned the men to follow behind, making way into the Keeps corridor. 

The dull doors began to slowly open, Lee being met by the Kings Guardsmen. With a simple nod, he pushes past them. "Your Grace." He kneeled before the large stout man upon the throne. "Captain, a pleasure." He nodded, "What brought you forth?" Grian said cheerfully. He sat with his mistresses, feeding them grapes. The blonde woman cuddled against the King, obviously the favored one of the three. She held a sharp stare, sipping on red wine. Her chestnut eyes scanned Lee's body hungrily.  

"News from Lord Daneil Wollstone." Noticing her stare, he clears his throat before standing up. "He claims to have been attacked by a Were." Lee stood high, handing over a soaked letter. The envelope was sealed with the Royal crest; a dark blue cloud with a lightning bolt striking out of it. Backing up into his current stance, Lee stood firmly, ignoring the undressing look in the mistresses eyes.

Grian furrowed his brows, ripping open the letter. "A Were?" One of the Kings mistresses exclaimed in disbelief, "How?" She turned to Grian, giving the other women scarce looks. She twirled her raven hair, pushing past the other women in attempt to rub against him. King Grian shook his head, "Don't worry. I'm sure it was just a bear-" he chuckled, tossing the letter aside. His meaty fingers slipped onto her thigh, squeezing lightly. She gasped with a slight moan. 

"Your Grace, the "bear" left a gaping hole along with a dent on one of our strongest steel gates." Lee insisted, the others behind him agreed. Grian blinked, furrowing his bushy brows. Pushing the women off of him he looked around the room. "Right..." He trailed off. "I suppose we will need to scope out the surrounding lands for this so called Were." He pushed himself off his throne and waved his hands to the Guardsmen, "Gather the hounds." The women pouted, scurrying back to his side.

"I've more important things to do." he chuckled, grabbing his  blonde mistress tightly by the waist. She giggled, kissing his scruffed neck. Lee turned to his men, "We'll start looking where it was first seen." Sighing, he goes to put his helmet back on and starts walking back outside. Noticing the brunette left behind, he stopped in his tracks. "You know what... Marshal will lead today." He pushed his helmet back off, shoving it into the arms of his men. Sauntering over to the woman, she looks up from her feet with a surprised look on her face.

"Come with me?" Lee whispered, holding a hand out for her to take. Taking a quick look around, she bites her lip. "Will I get in trouble?" She asked softly, taking his callused hand. "Not when you're with me." The corners of his mouth turned, giving her a slight wink. 

Guards began to line up outside, some prepared and others scattered around gathering their weapons. "You all were called to arms today for a hunt." The Marshal snickered, feeling in control. His broad shoulders intimidated the hunkered down men, unlike Lee. "Keep ye' eyes peeled for a bear," he cleared his throat, "Wolf, I mean." He corrected himself, sucking in a sarcastic huff. The small gathering of men giggled, pushing one another as their helmets covered their smug faces.

The Marshal hollered, waving them down. They clinked against each-other, awkwardly shuffling out the gate and into the woods. The walk to the woods was shorter than the walk from the city. Short cutting through the field, farmers stopped their work to watch the men ride through their fields of corn. "Watch it!" One hollered, running after the trampled vegetables. 

One man turned to the other, "I should be fighting in war right now and not scouting for a fuckin' mystical creature." He sneered. The smaller man turned to him, sweating nervously, "I dunn'... I think it's real." He stuttered. "There's tales of them from thousands of years ago." 

"Yeah, but they're instinct. Everyone knows that." He scoffed. 

"Halt!" The faint command came from the front of the line. Men knocked into each other, peering over ones shoulders. Horses snorted and stomped; feeling threatened, they began to kick the ground. The Marshal held a stern face, folding his hand up to keep the men in form. Lifting himself off of the horse, he  cautiously sauntered over to a fallen tree. Covered in over sized claw marks, the Marshal stumbled back.

He swallowed, clenching his teeth. "Well, I'll be damned." His heart fell through his chest, sending his eyes back to his troop with pleading eyes. Trees fell and trampled over another, a low growl rumbled behind the Marshal. The horses kicked their riders off, throwing a tantrum. "Get them to calm down!" Someone yelled. 

The growling intensified, getting closer. "What in the hell-" The Marshal turned, coming face to face with a jet black wolf, twice the size of man. It's eyes red and fangs glistened with yellow tint. It's breathe smelled of death. "Light help me..." He silently prayed to himself. 

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A/N

This Chapter has been edited, so the comments might not add up or make sense as for they were referring to the old version of the story!