Episode 24
“Alright,” Vedia announced as the squad moved to take up
positions on the street. “Here is the plan; Gabriel, you’re going to track this
thing until we can locate it. Then, Oliver; you, the Chief and myself are going
to help drive it directly into Gabriel. Once you have him cornered you pound
him hard and hold him as long as you can. While it is preoccupied with you
we’re going to blast it into oblivion. Everyone got it?”
Nobody questioned Vedia’s plan. Instead everyone merely
nodded in agreement and Gabriel tentatively sniffed at the crisp night air. The
subtle shifts of the weather brought to him a mix of smells. Moist earth filled
his noise highlighted by a fresh zing of ozone. It had rained during the day,
nothing heavy but enough of a light drizzle to saturate the ground slightly.
The aroma playfully toyed at his taste buds and made the air feel so clean in
the dying rays of sunlight.
Gabriel closed his eyes and concentrated on letting his
senses roam without restraint. Every moment bringing with it another delicate
detail that promised to aid him in his deductions. Eventually an obscure musky
scent drifted to him that he slowly recognized from their last encounter. It
was like a distant whiff of damp fur with a mingled mix of dried blood and
stale sweat. He was sure this monster had more than likely made use of its daytime
respite to lick its wounds and recover from their previous meeting. But this
time things would be different. This time this prowling primal predator was
about to face a determined force that was dedicated to its sole destruction.
“This way,” Gabriel growled and strode into a steady sprint
that carried him into the distance. Vedia and Oliver immediately followed suit,
already familiar with their peer’s pattern. Chief Gnaeus on the other hand
grunted to himself before moving to join them. “So, we’re going to be running
now,” he lamented quietly. “I have definitely been behind that desk too long.”
It wasn’t easy to keep up at first but slowly his wind came
back to him and soon the Chief managed to stay within a handful of steps behind
his younger squad members. When they all came to a halt he took casual note
that while he was panting heavily both other officers were slightly out of
breath as well. Only Gabriel himself seemed unaffected by the brisk pace that
they had maintained.
They had come to a halt before an old drainage runoff, where
rainwater and the like pooled from the streets to disappear down into the
ground. The reinforced grating had been busted open roughly to provide access
to the shadow-swimming subterranean sanctuary. “Back up,” Gabriel advised
gruffly. His body changing as thick fur of vibrant burnt sienna sprang to life
to cloak his flesh everywhere that didn’t already ripple with a steely shine.
Ears elongated along with his nose and fingers to take on the bestial body that
mixed with that of a man he had come to feel comfortable with.
A deep growl began to gurgle up from inside hammer-held
howling hero. As the Chief looked on both Oliver and Vedia took a few steps
back to take their positions. He couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could look
on at such a transformation and ever see past the experience to see the man
inside he had come to respect. With a shake of his head he tried to cast the
wandering thought from his mind to refocus his attention on the nature of their
task at hand.
Gabriel gripped his hammer in his hand and roared a regal
challenge that echoed down into the dark. No one needed words to translate the
implied meaning of the message, it was altogether clear. It spoke in a language
beyond intelligent speech and what it said loud and clear was; fight me – I
dare you.
Chief Gnaeus watched on unsure of how effective this tactic
was going to promise to be but already he had his Python in hand, trained on
the pitch-black portal. No sound signaled an answer to Gabriel’s demanding
dare. No monster appeared to answer with its own animal anger. Everything
remained eerily silent on the street as they waited. Even Gabriel’s ears twitched back and forth
slightly as he continually sniffed at the air. The lack of response lengthened
until everyone began to question if somehow Gabriel had been mistaken about the
tracked scent’s trail.
And then, all at once a furry flurry of teeth and claws
exploded like cannon-fire from out of the grim ground to collide with Gabriel.
The two bestial bodies blurred into a makeshift ball that rolled along the
ground exchanging snapping bites and savage stabs. In the chaos Gabriel’s grip
slipped free from his handy hammer and upon finding his familiar friend absent
he instead formed a metal mallet-like fist from his empty hand. Where his claws
carved at the creatures flesh his fist repeatedly hammered away in thunderous
bursts.
A rough scraping against his back announced that Gabriel had
managed to find the ground beneath him as he fought the overwhelming fresh
ferocity of the massive monster atop him. Bracing his weight he kicked off hard
with both legs to launch the savage stalker backwards into the air. The gambit
only bought him a few breaths as his foe landed easily enough upon the ground
to redouble his attack.
Charging forward into a lunge the creatures claws became
makeshift spears that sought to stab their way into Gabriel. His robotic right
arm held high in defense the metallic man-beast planted his feet firmly and
prepared to meet the attack. Gabriel knew full well the blinding grip of
fiendish fury that must completely seize his adversary in its sway. He had
experienced it himself and understood the powerful need to crush the thing
before you. However he also knew how it stripped you of your ability to reason
or think. So when the monster closed within striking distance to deliver its
intended blow, Gabriel gave it a simple surprise.
As the adrenaline fueled animal thrust its claws forward it
found only empty air awaiting it. Gabriel had sidestepped gracefully to avoid
the attack and instead pivoted his stance slightly to the side. The absence of
his promised prey threw the beasts balance askew as it stumbled forward. To aid
in it’s off balanced momentum a steel-solid strike slammed home into the back
of the beast’s skull. Without pause Gabriel followed up the attack with a
series of rapid punches that carried the creature further forward and towards
the ground.
Gabriel barely managed a step back as he struggled with the
temptation to continue his assault before a chorus of blasts broke the growing
gloom. As he watched on Gabriel refused to look away until the barrages burned
the beast’s body almost to nothing but ashes. While the rest of the Night-Watch
Squad stopped to reload and assess the carnage they had wrought Gabriel made a
final assurance to satisfy his own lingering doubts. He reached down and
mangled every last scrap of anything that had once been the malicious monster
until his own breath started to come in gasps and heaves.
When he finally looked up once more it wasn’t just the rest
of the squad who now looked on at him. Instead a handful of people had begun to
brave the night to step out from the safety of their homes and witness for them
selves if their nightmare was over. Where some looked on in horror at what must
appear to them to be a new monster marked with gleaming metal and savagely
slaughtering the remains of something else. Others watched with eyes that
declared that what they saw was their howling hero with wonder and gratitude.
As Gabriel looked around him at the growing gathering he
discovered a growing mixture of feelings sparking to life inside him. Pride
filled him to finally see the thing that had caused him so much pain reduced to
ruin beneath him. But he also felt a surge of worry for the uncertain fate
awaiting him. He had given his word to submit to the Chief’s judgment, and keep
his promise he must. However he couldn’t predict how the people of Gallu would
accept Chief Gnaeus’s decision.
A sense of regret teased at the back of his mind as Gabriel
calmed the kindled fury that burned ever in his chest to welcome once more his
mostly man shape. He questioned the wisdom of willingly releasing the potently
primal power of his bestial body. But he resolved himself to the fact that he
could not break his word. So with empty hands and lowered head he presented
himself before Chief Gnaeus to kneel.
“As agreed I now submit myself to your judgment,” Gabriel
somberly announced. And with so many eyes eagerly awaiting his decision, Chief
Gnaeus found his own voice strangely silent.
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