Ansgar

My sense of time let me down more and more.

At least that's how it seemed to me. Sometimes I was awake for maybe a few minutes before these herbs were forced on me again. (Attempts to bite my kidnappers were ineffective...) When I had to go into the bushes, I was always accompanied. Someone dragged me, or I was roughly carried to one of the bushes.

Half-conscious, I was then monitored, held, and urged to hurry while peeing and pooping. Not a particularly nice experience. And also unfavorable for escape attempts.

Mostly from Zarko and Agnes, who apparently could smell my half-baked escape plans. Whenever I was clear enough to escape, she prevented it. And she seemed to enjoy watching me doing my business while making fun of my 'equipment'.

I didn't like going into the bushes.

However, my damp clothes told me that my body could regulate this need without bushes and in complete unconsciousness.

EW!

"The wolf stinks!" said one of the four. I wasn't awake enough to make out who. I knew their names by now. They would never, ever let me live.

Again and again, I felt pain. Sometimes I heard soft words, and sometimes they were addressed to me. I heard arguments, laughter... How many days had passed?

Did someone search for me?

Or did my pack not care about me? Why had no one saved me?

I couldn't save myself.

I was lying on something hard, rumbling. The cart that someone was pulling.

With difficulty, I opened my eyes. Someone was walking next to me. Light-colored clothes, blond hair, dirty... Everwinus?

"There are lights up there!" I heard Agnes say. "A village, or, more of a small town."

"Pretty far down. Shitty slope!" Everwinus grumbled.

"There is still a long way to go. I'll be happy if we don't have to pull this cart anymore," Zarko complained. "Do you think we can go into hiding in this city for a while?"

"Possibly. Our pursuers almost caught us last night," Agnes hissed.

Oh? Really? When? I guess I had been unconscious...

"Be quiet." Meusewin. He sounded annoyed. "The cart makes enough noise. Bah... The wolf stinks of piss!"

Oh, sorry...  How... embarrassing.

That must be bad for you.

Assholes!

"Everwinus! You pull the thing now!" Zarko stopped, and with him the cart. "It's your turn. I've dragged The Thing long enough. Oh... The wolf is awake. Do we still have herbs?"

"No," Agnes answered. "It's about time anyway."

Time for what?

To end my life?

Sorry, but I don't want to die bathing in my own pee.

Preferably not at all.

"Time? Definitely. And the way he smells, it can’t wait," Meusewin agreed. "Everwinus? We go to explore the small town. You dispose of the wolf. He is tied up and almost starved. It should therefore not cause you any problems. Hide the cart and keep an eye out for our pursuers. Kill that. Be a man for once! Then you'll follow us. We find out exactly where we are, replenish our supplies, and fill our stomachs, too! I won't touch that again."

‘That’ was probably me.

"And hurry up with the stinking wolf!" Zarko admonished him. "He knows too much! If he flees, we'll have a problem."

"He can't escape. Only stink." Agnes laughed. "Bah, I can't see stinking werewolf blood anymore. Maybe humans live there?"

"Hm." Everwinus did not give a more detailed answer.

"Be a man!" repeated Meusewinn, whom I had grown even less fond of than Wilderich. I heard the three other vampires hurry away, then it was quiet. Silent, except for the heavy breathing of my executioner. Blinking, I looked at Everwinus. The vampire looked after his friends.

Shit. That was probably the end for me.

"Sorry," the vampire murmured.

I tried to sit up, but my body was still too weak. "Who ... follows ... you? From what... are you … running… away?" My last hour, or rather minute, had struck. And yet I wanted to know. Did someone search for me?

This knowledge would not be of any use to me.

"Hm."

"Where...", I tried to ask again. In the meantime, I could move my fingers.

"I'm sorry, Wolf."

I clenched my hands into weak fists. If the vampire got involved in a conversation, maybe I could escape after all. "My name is not ... Wo... lf. My... na…me is… Ansg... Huh?" Everwinus lifted me effortlessly, as if I weren't a very slim but muscular alpha wolf. "Huh?"

"Hold still," the vampire grumbled, carried me a few steps away from the cart, and sat me down on the ground. He leaned me against a wall of stone. No... A rock face.

Bright night sky. Full moon.

As soon as Everwinus stepped out of my field of vision, I saw where I was. A narrow path that led along a cliff. The cart just fit on the path. It seemed to go steeply down, but how deep I could not see. I turned my head a little. The path ended in trees... Forest.

Why did I sit here?

He could have thrown me off the cliffs.

Everwinus left me here and searched the narrow path for something in silence, then disappeared into the forest.

"Huh?" Confused, I leaned against the rock face. If I could, I might have fled. My body did not obey me yet, and I was confused. So, no escape attempts on my part. "Huh?"

He came back after a short time. Now, I could also move my toes, but I was still at his mercy. The vampire held two stones in his hands and looked at me.

Stone? Was this the murder weapon of his choice?

He stood in front of the cart and struck the stones together.... "Damn!" he cursed.

Did he try... "You... are… doing this wrong…"

"Hush!" Annoyed, he threw the stones down the cliff and kicked the cart. The thing didn't move. "Damn thing. Shitty cart!"

Okay?

The vampire took a heavy-looking bag from the cart and wrapped it around his shoulders. A second bag was added. Then he laboriously pushed the cart closer to the edge of the cliff and... "Shit! The thing is heavy, and YOU are no help..." The cart creaked and fell. "Shitty thing!" He looked at me. "There's a river down there." He looked down the cliff again and then spat into the depths. "Have a good trip!"

Okay... Sure. Wonderful. And now? Are you throwing me down there, too?

"I wanted to burn all the crap for the drugs, but water works too."

Congratulations?

"And now to you."

Oh my, what a surprise.

What was going on? This vampire confused me more and more. "Wa... ht…“

"Two wolves are chasing us. I'll take you to them."

"What...?" I tried to get up, but my body didn't obey me. I felt dizzy, and my head hurt. "You..."

"I wanted to save you from the beginning, Ansg."

"That’s not... Ah!"

I was lifted again. "My friends and I are fleeing from more vampires. We are not necessarily nice people. But you should have already noticed that."

Everwinus carried me into the forest. He held me like a princess or a bride. If I hadn't been so dazed, I would have resisted. "Uh..." He wrinkled his nose. "You actually do stink. Sorry."

I rolled my eyes. He didn't exactly smell of roses either!

Sweat. Bah!

My arms finally felt less heavy and useless, and my fingers obeyed me again. "They are... Looking for me?" I asked, stroking one of the bags. What was in it?

Supplies?

"I think so. Ansg, let me know as soon as you can walk on your own. The supplies are heavy enough."

"Ansgar," I growled and wiggled my feet, to which the feeling returned. My voice didn't fail anymore. "I wouldn’t let myself be carried voluntarily. Just to be clear! YOU KIDNAPPED ME!" So close up, he looked all the better. Fair skin, soft features. He would be handsome if he didn't always look so angry or annoyed. "As soon as I can walk..."

"Good. I'm glad," he interrupted me briskly. "I'll either take you to the wolves or home. If... Well... I have no idea where we are. Shit."

I grimaced, looked around, and sniffed... "Neither do I. Shit!" I confirmed. Maybe I'd know more in daylight. Nothing but dark trees didn't really help, and I had never been so far away. I couldn't smell any familiar wolves. Not yet. "Why are you saving me?"

"Shit. I don't know. I'm just tired of this crap. I have great friends... Murder! I'm not a murderer. I'm dirt, but not a murderer. I... I always wanted a different life. Only for this reason... Shit... Well..." He wrinkled his nose again. "You need a bath."

I growled again. "Thank you, sunshine. So do you. You stink of sweat!"

"Shit, yes!" He laughed. "What would I give for a wonderfully fragrant bath in a tub?"

I heard him laugh for the first time.