Descending Night

4) The Queen

“Ow!” Rachel shouts, retracting her hand. “That hurts, David!

Rachel holds her breath, immediately regretting her outburst.  Glancing around the vast hull, it seems that the rest of the Degorians are too deep in slumber to notice the disturbance. She stares at the bedding next to her, where her father Ivan sleeps soundly.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Rachel scoops David back into her arms. The dark-haired infant squirms his protest, like a feral child unaccustomed to human touch.  “How about I take you to the galley, David? Matt might find something tasty for you to chew on.”

As soon as Rachel stands, however, David slips from her grasps.  A lot more coordinated and stronger than human infants his age, he easily hops over the sleeping bodies towards the far wall. He claws his way up and pulls himself to a porthole, sniffing at the glass opening.

Gasping, Rachel carefully steps over the makeshift beds to follow David. As she approaches the wall, she quickly realizes that he’s out of her reach.

“David,” she says as stern as a whisper will allow. “Get down, now.” Rachel scrunches her face, attempting to make the angriest expression a five-year-old redhead with big, doe eyes is capable of making.

Either her mean, big-sister face seems to have worked, or little David simply feels extra mischievous tonight. The moment he looks back to her, he recklessly hops off the porthole sill and right into her arms.

Rachel catches him, and the momentum sends her staggering backwards, tiptoeing over the sleeping Degorians. David climbs on the top of Rachel’s head, bringing her hair mass of red tresses in front of her face. Blinded, she just misses stepping on one of the injured knights as she slams through the door and falls into the hallway.

The door slowly closes behind her, leaving Rachel face-first on the deck with David sitting on top of her head.  Dejected, she lays motionless as the baby werewolf claps and paws at her for another ride.

“Rachel? What are doing out here on the floor?”

Rachel lifts her head, bringing her gaze to Beth as David summersaults down her back.  “David is teething and won’t stop biting.”

Beth extends a hand and helps her friend to her feet. She clicks her tongue as she dusts Rachel’s nightgown and fluffs her disheveled hair.  “Dad said he’ll finish cleaning the galley and sent me to bed, but I’m sure he won’t mind that I stay up if you need some help.”

“Arf!”

David lifts nose in the air, switching his face as he picks up a scent. He scampers on all fours around the girls while they give him a quizzical stare. After several circles around them, the mysterious scent lures him down the narrow corridor.

“David?” Rachel calls as she follows him. “What’s a matter?”

Beth also follows, huddling close behind Rachel in the semi-dark hall. “David, where are you going?”

“ARF!” In an instant, David breaks into a full, four-legged run, disappearing into the shadows.

“DAVID!”

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“What the hell is going on!?” a raven-haired woman snarls, leaning over the shoulder of a seated man in a lab coat.

“Exactly what I’ve said,” the man answers. His emerald eyes fixate on the screen in front of him, the only light source in the small room.  He points at the image on the screen, which appears to be a map with white dots littered all over.  “They’ve been immobile for over twenty minutes.  The entire brigade has fallen.”