Dracula 34: The White Wolf in the Snow

Silence. There was dead silence. It was the kind of silence that was able to break the nerves even of the calmest man in the world…and for Mai Valendine that patience wasn’t one of her virtues; this silence could drive her crazy. She sighed and stood up from her desk where she was studying some documents. It wasn’t only the silence that was making her restless. She still was the one in charge for that village. Every single person in that village –well, with a few exceptions- were complaining about Yami’s staying at their village. How troublesome!
She sighed and took a small sip from her red wine. Days were getting colder as well. It was the middle of December after all. Even small colds and flues were coming again. With Setoko, the old witch, dead they needed someone else to play the role of the doctor. Thankfully Joey knew some small things from Vatican about herbal plants. At the moment he was out in the forest to gather some more. Mai smiled at the memory of that man, so much younger than her, how passionate he was in bed. She knew that he wasn’t made to become a monk, at least not yet. She sighed again running a hand through her golden hair. Damn that silence! Why would that strange feeling leave her alone…?
She finished the content of her glass with one last sip and stood up. She walked out of the room and out of the front door with determined and somehow fast and angry steps. Once she stepped out she was greeted by the soft yet chilling breeze of that early afternoon. There was a soft mist that was covering the snow-powdered village. Mai Valentine liked the cold. It was the cold of her country…the cold of her village. She brushed some hair off her shoulder and walked into the cobbled, narrow streets of her village for a little while. She hadn’t taken a cape with her but it was okay for her. She quite enjoyed the feeling of her hair being ruffled by the cold wind or the soft breeze to her face even if it was cold. Besides, she didn’t get cold easily.
She watched as the people of the village were walking around for their usual chores and jobs for the day. They didn’t have much in those mountains but it was home nevertheless… And that was one of the reasons the people didn’t wish to leave that place… Mai was one person with high pride and great sense of responsibility.  She wanted to protect those people and that place however one small doubt was in her heart; what if Yami was right? What if she lacked strength to fulfill her duty…?
Yami constantly repeated it again and again that Seto Kaiba was his prey to claim however Mai couldn’t get it. It didn’t seem right to her. SHE should be the one to be avenging her family and so many other people of her village. But in any case Yami seemed determined. And as much as Mai wouldn’t admit it even to herself aloud, she had to confess that Yami had indeed many things in his mind. She couldn’t even imagine how a person should be feeling if he were being treated like some deadly disease all the time and now learnt that he wasn’t even human but a man-eating demon that would reawake any time soon. Yami had plenty of reasons for drowning himself in alcohol all the time or training non-stop. In fact, Yami was not at the village that hour. Was he training somewhere in the forest? Had he left to fight Seto Kaiba early? Mai sincerely hoped it was the first one and not the second. And that brought her back to her original question. Why was he there out training and hunting down Seto Kaiba white it should have been her? Perhaps he DID stand a better chance… No! She wasn’t supposed to think like that! However sometimes…she couldn’t help herself…

It happened in an instant.
Suddenly a big mass of white fur passed by her like a lightning flash and she barely had time to see it. The snow-white wolf lounged forward and growled as he was mercilessly scratching with his huge (yet human-like hands-paws) claws at the snow and ground below. The Werewolf raised his head towards the sky and let out an ear-piercing howl. This particular, dark howl made the panic spread like the snow in a snowstorm among the people of the village even more.
“EVERYBODY INSIIIIDE!” Mai yelled at the top of her lungs, for one more time her voice surpassing the scared cries all around her.
As the villagers were running panicked up and down, some women were trying to gather their children to safety; some other men were grabbing everything they could for self-protection or attack. The Wolf growled threateningly and then rushed upon one of them, sinking his teeth to his neck, cutting the life cord almost instantly. Some of the bravest men grabbed their so-called “weapons” and circled the beast, sometimes trying to stab it or even shoot it with some pistol they had. The beast only raised its head from the mangled man to growl at people around it. Apparently they were making the Werewolf less hurt than angry.
“No!” Mai was screaming, “That won’t do! It needs silver bullets!”
The Werewolf growled loudly and was ready to strike. Mai growled in pure frustration and grabbed the first spike-like rod she found (one of those who used for her training) and using it as a lever she made herself leap with it in the air, fly over the Werewolf’s curled back and land right in front of him, giving others time to escape. The werewolf growled threateningly.
“I really hope you have a big heart, wolf-boy” she said panting, “cause now I really wanna drive a silver STICK through it!”
The white Wolf growled and then rushed forward, aiming to close its jaws around her neck as well. Mai dodged it and started swinging her wooden rod with great technique trying to avoid the claws in the process. The giant Wolf growled furious and rushed upon her, throwing her to the ground.
Mai was holding her rod horizontally so she would prevent the Wolf from biting her. The werewolf was constantly fighting to do so. Its jaws were barely missing her nose as they were closing again and again in air. Mai was feeling its hot saliva on her face…his hot breath reeking of blood and meat… The muscular animal/human was determined to have her as his next meal as it seemed.
“Argh!” she growled loudly, “Someone bring me my gun!” she yelled
Mai gave a fast move and slipped below the beast’s belly to the other side. The wolf turned around to look at her and seemed furious because the victim ran away for one more time. Mai was panting heavily and the Wolf’s claws already scratched her cheek. A layer of sweat had formed on her body.
“Someone!” she yelled, “Someone bring me my silver pistol!”
The werewolf attacked once more. Mai started practically dancing around it, swinging the rod, trying to avoid the wolf’s heavy arms and claws. As the white creature of killing grew impatient, it slashed the rod in three pieces. Mai saw in horror that she was left armless.
She gasped and jumped backwards, making a perfect turn in mid-air before landing back to her feet, to avoid yet another attack coming from the wolf. She looked around desperate to find something to defend herself. The only thing she caught with the corner of her eye was a torch onto a wall close to her.
She ran towards that wall and ran onto it to grab the torch and then make a turn in mid-air to land on her feet. As soon as she did so, she span around sharply pointing the torch at the werewolf. She started swaying it now before the beast’s eyes, while sometimes she got hurt by the sharp claws of its, as they scratched deep into her shoulder, making the blood emerge like a fountain. And then…
A gunshot erupted in the air, stopping everything.

Yami had run from the forest and saw what was happening from a high hill, around a hundred of feet above the town. So he fired in the air achieving what he wanted: the beast (and Mai) to look towards him. He lowered his still smoking gun and looked at the beast from the long distance.
“Now that I have your attention…”
The werewolf let out a loud growl of rage and leaped towards him. It had reached him with two strong leaps. Yami rushed forward in the forest, running with all his uncanny speed among the trees (that seemed like running past him as if he was in a train).
As he had calculated it, the werewolf was coming after him. Bakura, no matter how inhuman he was right now, was still remembering the vengeance he had against him. And so he was chasing him now, forgetting about the instinct of food, since his anger was now deep in his non-human heart. He was running, letting Bakura hunt him till they were away from the town… When Yami glanced over his shoulder, while running, and realized they were away enough, he pushed the ground with his feet strongly, making himself leap in the air, making a perfect turn in mid-air while flying over Bakura-Werewolf and landed on his feet behind him gracefully.
Bakura turned around growling with hatred, now gazing at Yami like a mad dog that wanted to cut him into shreds with its teeth. Yami bestirred himself for the hit he was sure that it was about to come. His hand was at his belt, ready to draw a silver pistol or a silver dagger. The Wolf noticed the movement and rushed forward, surprising Yami with its speed. Yami jumped out of the way rolling to his shoulder to stand to his feet, but Bakura was fast and came after him.
Yami knew that every generation of Werewolves that had many ancestors behind, was stronger than the previous one. Obviously this Wolf was the strongest after a long clan. Yet another fast attack came and the wolf hit/punched Yami to the stomach, making him cough out a little blood and go flying backwards till his back hit against a tree. The tree’s wood cracked under his back by the impact. Yami whipped his mouth with the back of his hand to mop away the blood and growled in frustration. Feeling his own blood running boiling hot in his veins, his eyes changed into demonic, slit-pupil ones. He straightened himself and with yet another animalistic now, growl he rushed upon the huge wolf, he grabbed its large arm and then…flipped him over his shoulder throwing it to the ground!
The beast let out a sound of surprise and pain as it hit the ground but it found its balance quickly and attacked again and Yami jumped way higher than he normally would, and pushed with his feet and hands upon a tree to rush upon Bakura once more, holding a long, wooden rod. He leaped again and landed upon Bakura’s back and stabbed the rod in it, making Bakura growl in pain and anger and move his arm swiftly to lift him away. Yami was prepared and jumped away throwing a dagger in the process…
The two of them continued fighting like wild beasts in a tornado of snow, fur, black clothes, growls and roars of pain, anger and effort.

A hundred yards away, Tea was running to the spot as well. She saw from where she was the scuffle and gasped in horror.
“Yami!” she whispered and she started running in the irregular road to get to the spot
Meanwhile Yami kept on fighting like this, like a wild beast against the Wolf but Bakura wasn’t letting him, giving him the chance, to draw his pistols loaded with silver bullets. He didn’t have the chance to draw the weapons that could kill the Werewolf. Every time he would try to draw them, Bakura would rush upon him, making it necessary to avoid or dodge or counterattack so he couldn’t do it.
“Yami!”
The sudden yell a few feet away from the fight made him gasp in terror and look towards the voice and what he saw (he knew what he would see but he was praying to God and all angels he was mistaken) Tea standing there panting heavily by her running. Her face was full of worry and she was holding a spike in her hand.
“Tea!” he yelled, “You fool! Run away! Run!”
Bakura’s memory, though worked with her too. His wolf-ears flicked and he turned around to the direction of the voice. Seeing the only person that had showed compassion to him, however his Werewolf nature was stronger. He quit the fight with Yami in the middle and started running on his fours towards Tea. She gasped in fear.
“Tea! Run! Run away!” Yami yelled desperately
Bakura was coming closer and closer and Yami knew Tea even if she was the fastest human in the world, she wouldn’t stand a chance before the actual speed of a werewolf.
“TEAAAAAAA!”
Yami yelled at the top of his lungs, pushing the ground with his feet as hard as he could, flying towards her with his strong jump, reached her before Bakura for a couple of second and pushed her out of the way while drawing the pair of silver pistols at the same time, turning around so he was looking upwards as he was falling and shot with both of them at the same time, shooting at close range at the mass of fur, muscle and teeth that was coming downwards onto him.
And they both fell down, at the end of the cliff…getting lost in the mass of trees, branches, bushes, stones and snow…
Tea gasped in horror and ran at the end of the cliff to look below just in case she could spot them. The only thing she could see was trees…branches…bushes…trees and more trees… and also a trail of blood, a few crimson droplets onto the snow at the lip of the cliff… She had trouble breathing by the upcoming sobs and her eyes were burning in tears. She covered her mouth with her palm to stop her desperate sobbing.
Her breath was coming out in small clouds in the cold…
And the gunshot was still echoing to the around mountains… The overtone had barely started to get fainter and fainter…giving its place to the serene of death…