Chapter 128 - Breaking the Chain

I landed in front of the four fleeing werewolves. “Hey, guys. You going somewhere?”

They came to a sudden stop, two of them braking so hard their claws dug furrows into the soil. All four werewolves growled at me, but I saw the fear in their eyes. They were all tier five, which meant they could see my rank. They wanted nothing to do with fighting me, not if they could avoid it.

I didn’t really want to fight them, either. They were people, underneath that curse. Infected, cursed people who needed my help. I wanted to cure them, not beat them up or kill them. Thing was, I didn’t yet know for sure if I could cure the already transformed or not. I was going to need to get up close and personal with a werewolf to really tell. Cleanse worked via touch, so I needed to actually touch one of them.

Much as I didn’t want to let the other three go, it was going to be extremely tough to stop them all from fleeing. I held up my hands, trying to look as peaceful as possible. “You guys don’t want to surrender, do you? I don’t want to hurt you, if I can avoid it.”

One of them cocked its head sideways, looking for all the world like a quizzical dog. That one glanced quickly at the one next to it. Like they’d given each other a signal, they all bolted.

They’d all been lined up in a neat row. Now, the two on the outside edge ran off in either direction. They were still making for the north wall, but they were spreading out so it would be more difficult for me to stop them all. It was a good tactic, and they were probably right.

If I’d been willing to kill all of them, I probably could have. I had ranged attacks like my Drain Life and Lightning Bolt spells, and Celerity plus Flight meant they weren’t going to escape me too easily. But I had nowhere to store captives. Harvard had that one cell, but last I knew there was already a werewolf locked in there, and the room wasn’t big enough for many more.

I sprang into action as they darted away. The two middle werewolves tied to break past on either side of me, so I did the easy thing and grabbed them both by their scruffs as they raced by. My Strength put an end to their desperate sprint in an instant, a firm grip on the scruff of each neck halting them in their tracks. The werewolves howled in fear and frustration, but I had what I needed, now. Hands-on contact with both of them told me much more about their curse than I’d known before.

Cleanse worked through contact, both in terms of how it allowed me to analyze what was wrong with someone, and in how it could cure them. It was a powerful spell, designed to remove most ‘negative statuses’ from the target. If someone was diseased, poisoned, blinded, bleeding, cursed, or had any of a variety of other issues, Cleanse would remove those. It wouldn’t restart a stopped heart, but it would cure cancer.

That was one heck of a spell. Now, to see if I could use it to save these two. If it worked on them, maybe I could fly after the other two and Cleanse them as well. They’d already reached the wall and were clambering over it, racing their way to freedom.

I sent the power of a Cleanse cast through my right hands, hoping for the best. I figured as soon as the timer reset, I’d cure the other one, too. It didn’t work out that way.

The backlash was instant. Pain lanced through my mind as the spell kicked back, slamming me with a rush of mana that couldn’t go anywhere. I groaned and sank to my knees, letting the werewolves go in the process. They didn’t question their good fortune, racing their way to the wall. In seconds, they’d climbed over and vanished.

I groaned, slowly getting back to my feet. That had really hurt! Worse, it hadn’t worked. At least I knew why it hadn’t worked, though. I knew what I needed to do, if I wanted to free all these people. It wasn’t going to be simple or easy, but it was at least possible.

“Cam!” Maggie’s cry of alarm brought me back to reality. I shook off the lingering remnants of the mana-overload and activated Flight, pouring on the speed to get back to her side.

She was in the shelter, which was more of a pavilion than a tent. There was a roof, but no walls, like one of those massive tents people put up for a huge outdoor party when they’re worried about rain. I landed just outside the shelter’s edge, fists up and ready for anything, but I didn’t see any immediate threats.

“You all right?” I asked.

Maggie nodded. “Yes, but these people are running out of time. I barely got this man Cleansed before he changed. I could use your help. Where are the werewolves? Did it work?”

I shook my head. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain later. They got away, though. You were right to call me, though. Let’s get these folks taken care of, now that we can.”

Between the two of us, we made short work of the remaining patients. The shelter was full of cots, each one with a cursed man or woman. A couple of them writhed in pain, their faces twisted. I knew that look. It meant the change was coming soon. We started with them, Cleansing their curses to free them.

The cooldown on the spell was short. With both of us working the problem, Maggie and I were able to heal everyone in the shelter in a matter of minutes. It was tough, watching some of their reactions. All those people thought they were doomed to become ravenous monsters, creatures that would prey on their friends and family. When we lifted their curses, some of them broke down crying in relief. Others simply said a soft ‘thank you’ before walking away, like they were surprised to still be themselves.

It wasn’t an easy time for anyone. Healers and healed alike, we all dealt with it as best we could.

Finally, the last of the wounded were healed. Maggie and I were exhausted. Her mana was all but tapped out, and mine was low. I’d need to wait a bit for that to restore itself before launching myself into the fight I knew was coming. I lay down on one of the cots, an empty one whose former tenant had walked away after we healed her, and let myself relax for the first time in what felt like forever.

“You can’t just lounge there all day,” Maggie said as she plunked herself down on the cot next to mine.

“I’m not!” I protested with a laugh. “I’m just resting.”

“With your eyes closed.”

“Yeah, I feel like I could sleep for a week,” I replied. “But we can’t. Still too much to do.”

“What’s next, then?” Maggie asked. “You said you couldn’t cure those already changed, but it was ‘complicated.’ What does that mean?”

“Well, I grabbed two of them and tried to Cleanse one, but the spell hit me with backlash. It seems that once the curse activates fully, and they change, something about the curse changes as well. It’s rooted in the original vector.”

“Cerberus. The leader. Is that right?”

“I think so, yeah,” I replied.

“What happens if you Cleanse him?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I have a hunch, though. I think if I can cure Cerberus, all of them will revert to their old forms. Every human he’s infected, and all the people those werewolves infected, too. The whole chain will fall apart and cure all of them if we can Cleanse him.”

Maggie sat up. “Seriously? Holy shit, that’s huge. If you’re right, we could get all of those people back.”

“If I’m right,” I repeated. “I might not be. But it’s at least worth a shot.”

“What happens if you try and fail?”

“Then we’re back to Plan A, which means we wipe them out down to the last werewolf. We can’t let them survive. If even one makes it clear, it’ll infect more people, and we’ll be right back here in the same situation again in no time,” I replied.

My mana was back up to a level where I felt like I could get underway. That left one big question—was Maggie coming with me? Part of me didn’t even want to ask her. She’d already risked more than was sane or safe, heading into that dungeon with me. But she’d come out of it strong, stronger than most of Alex’s best fighters, in fact. All the crystals I’d tossed her way had turned Maggie into a serious powerhouse.

Plus, she had Cleanse, too. When we found the werewolves, it was going to take everything I had to yank Cerberus out of his pack and get him someplace where he couldn’t hurt anyone else and where his people couldn’t interfere with my attempt to Cleanse him. I wouldn’t have time to spend Cleansing anyone else. I knew Alex was already out there, hunting Cerberus. If he found the werewolves before us, he’d engage them for sure, and probably end up with some of his people bitten. Having her along to help them might save lives, especially if Cleansing Cerberus didn’t work.

I just didn’t want to ask. It didn’t feel right, asking her for more help when she’d already given so much.

“Cam, I can almost see the thoughts moving across your furrowed brow. Spill. What’re you thinking about?” Maggie asked.

Moment of truth time, I supposed. I opened my mouth to ask her if she’d come, then chickened out. “Just thinking about how I can handle this attack best.”

“How you’ll handle it?” Maggie asked. “Cameron Castle, you’d better damned well not be thinking about leaving me behind!”

I blinked. “Huh?”

“I think I’ve earned seeing this thing through to the finish, don’t you? After fighting alongside you in the dungeon, are you still worried about whether I can handle myself? I’m not,” she said. “Listen, you know as well as I do that Alex has had hours to go chasing his personal white whale out there. If he hasn’t found Cerberus and his pack, he will soon. You’ve got to face Cerberus. But you’ll need someone to help Heal and Cleanse any of Alex’s troops who are infected, right? I’m not just the best choice for that role. I’m your only option.”

“Well, I didn’t want to ask even more from you,” I explained as I paced the ground. “You’ve already risked a lot more than most.”

“Yup, and I’d do it again. Will do it again, in fact. So, when do we leave?” Maggie asked.

I shook my head, grinning at her. She was smart, brave, and willing to take a stand. What was there not to like about that?

“Now,” I said at last. “The sooner we end this, the better it’ll be for everyone. If you’re ready, let’s go find us a werewolf pack!”