"Amie!!!"
Mason turned and saw Mia striking down a werewolf. Her eyes widened with fear as she glanced at her sister below the jaw of the alpha werewolf.
She wanted to go to her rescue but was intercepted by a trio of wolves.
"You shall not disrupt our alpha from his breakfast," Mason heard one of them say. He sprinted toward Amie, bracing himself for whatever was to come.
Amie was the sole reason why he hasn't become a food for predators. She and her sister had helped him and sheltered him. He wouldn't let her die. Not on his watch.
He continued running; his necklace's pendant, which was now out of his clothes, swung back and forth as he ran as fast as he could.
A werewolf leaped at him, but he was a ducker. When he approached the alpha, who was about to bring down his massive razor-sharp claws upon Amie, Mason threw himself forward, using his shoulder to shove him aside.
The alpha staggered but was not on the verge of falling. Mason didn't expect him to fall either, considering his weight and massiveness. The monster would require more than twice Mason's size to be able to at least knock him down.
And Mason, despite his impressive height, was barely a few inches above the monster's waist.
"Who in the nine hells dares interfere with my meal!" The alpha bellowed, his voice sending shivers down Mason's spine.
"What are you doing!?" Amie shouted. "Run!" She briskly rose up on her feet, wiping the blood that trickled down her head–possibly where the alpha had hit her earlier.
The alpha, seeing her attempting to slip with Mason, charged, backhanding Mason to the side and grabbing Amie by her neck.
He would crush her neck! Mason remembered the fate that befell the girl archer on the roof earlier. He wouldn't want that to happen to Amie. Never.
He stood up from the ground and flung himself at the wolf again, using one of Amie's arrows scattered on the ground to pierce a hole in the creature's back.
That must've annoyed him rather than inflicting pain. The wolf dropped Amie and faced him, his anger palpable as his breathing became deep ragged gasps.
"I swear in the name of the Moon Goddess, Ava. I shall devour you alive," he proclaimed, his terrifying pair of yellows boring into Mason's eyes, releasing immense fear that seemed to hold his feet from leaving the spot.
"Run! Mason!" Amie managed to shout as she struggled to recover her strength.
Run? Everyone keeps telling him to run!
Mason snapped out of his introspection just in time to evade a wild strike from the alpha. He'd dropped his sword earlier while running to Amie's rescue. What a reckless action!
But at the same time, the sword's heaviness has been delaying him from gaining his full speed. Maybe he was right to drop it. Or maybe not, however, in any case, he would die quickly if he didn't get any weapon to protect himself from this angry beast.
Lucky him, he caught a glimpse of a glinting weapon on the ground; Amie's fallen knife. It was lying a few feet from him. Mason rolled on the ground, away from another attack from the alpha and he reached for the knife.
As he clutched it in his hand he stretched it at the alpha, who was now a few feet away from him, regaining his stance.
The knife was short, but it was something. A small knife can cut anyway; even a blunt one can still inflict damage.
The alpha shuddered with laughter when he saw what Mason was pointing at him. It was a forced laughter, and his previous hatred came to his eyes again.
"You lowly human think a knife like that would…"
Mason could have sworn he saw the creature's body tense. The wolf's eyes widened in terror as he locked eyes on something on Mason's chest.
The necklace!
Mason seized the opportunity of the alpha's distraction and charged. The wolf was fast for his size. He trembled back as he dodged, horror still crafted in his eyes.
"De… De…Devarna!" he gasped, saliva dripping from his opened maw.
Devarna? Mason thought. The snake assassins called him something like that before. What does it mean?
Without wasting time Mason charged again. But instead of dodging, the alpha turned his heels and scurried away.
What the hell!? Mason wondered. But he gave chase anyway. The other wolves must have seen their leader running from a human. They stopped their attack and howled in confusion.
The alpha, still running, let out a loud, long blood-curdling howl. At this, the rest of the wolves' ears flattened in what must be fear, and they began to retreat.
Mason caught Mia's expression as he ran past her. She stared at him in perplexity, too dumbfounded to speak. The rest of the survivors, seeing their enemies fleeing, joined Mason to give chase.
As they ran, those who held bows notched arrows and shot. A few among the fleeing wolves fell and doubled over, writhing. The warriors jumped over them and continued chasing, while some stopped to finish off the arrow-shot wolves.
With one desperate leap, the werewolves disappeared into the woods. The warriors stopped, thought for a moment then burst into laughter.
"They flee!" one of them shouted, a middle-aged man with a round face and a few lines of gray on his long hair. He turned to Mason and his laughter receded. "You fought against the alpha and you won, stranger."
Mason shrugged. He didn't actually win. The wolf fled when he saw his necklace. But who care? He was going to enjoy the moment; being a hero. No one was going to take that from him.
Mason smiled and nodded.
The man grabbed him and hurled him up in the air. The rest of the men, about twenty in number, caught him and began throwing him up in jubilation.
"Victory! Victory!!" They chorused as they proceeded back into the village. One of them, a muscular man with a goatee, caught Mason and sat him on his shoulders as though he were a mere child.
On their way back, Mason saw the werewolves that had been murdered; all of them were back to their human form–men, women, both young ones and adults–littered the ground, making it even more difficult to distinguish which were corpses of the villages or of wolves.
When they reached the village square Mason was astonished to see villagers gathered around. Their population was more surprising - at least seventy in number.
Among them stood Diana - Mia and Amie's mother, which begged the question as to where they've been hiding all the while without the werewolves sniffing them out.
And about those that were murdered, were they not hidden like the rest of the villagers? Despite the terrible casualties they'd experienced the villagers still had smiles on their faces.
The muscular man put Mason on the ground as Daniel approached, covered in blood and slashes across his chest.
"You saved my daughter once again," he said. "How am I going to get myself out of this debt?"
"You owe me no debt, sir," Mason said. "Your daughters saved me, and you sheltered me. We are even now."
"No, I owe you," Daniel insisted. "I saw you throw yourself at the wolf to save my daughter. You–"
"He saved us also!" shouted one of the village warriors, who Mason now assumed were watchers, according to Daniel the previous night.
The man stepped out from within the rest of the warriors, a smile on his face. "The wolves often attacked our village, killing us like we were caged animals. But who would've thought they would flee for their lives?"
"Yes, he's right!" another watcher shouted, and the villagers nodded in agreement. "We owe him our lives, we must show our gratitude."
"True!" Daniel rejoined. "With what happened today, the wolves would never attack us again. We must show gratitude."
"I shall give him half of my farm!" one of the villagers proclaimed, an old woman still full of beans.
"I and my family shall build the hero a house!" a man shouted.
"My children shall serve the hero as his maid if he wishes!"
This went on and on, and Mason wondered if they were really serious with their offers or just exaggerating. In any case, he was not going to stay in the village no longer. He would not overstay his visit.
Even if he decided to stay in the village, no doubt, the villagers would continue treating him like their king–such fantasies. But he must move on. He was in Africlaux to find his identity, not to live a fake warrior and enjoy a luxurious life which he could enjoy better with his wealth in his world.
"I'm sorry," Mason said, his voice quivering through the din. "But I'm only a traveler; I can't stay here for long. I must continue my journey."
The liveness in the people's eyes died down and sadness took over features. They sighed and dropped their heads in disappointment, their shoulders sagging.
Mason spotted Amie and Mia behind the crowd, even from the distance he could see sadness written on their faces.
Daniel grunted, and he turned to Mason. "If that's the case, we have no choice in this, sadly. But we shall give you everything we can to sustain you throughout your journey. Take one of my daughters with you, she shall be your companion."
"Huh, you don't have to do that," Mason declined, waving his hand dismissively. "I can just take some food and–"
"Small may we be in number," one of the villagers cut in. It was Diana. She supported this? "but we're known for our act of returning favors. It's our culture. Take one of them, or we'll forever see ourselves as ingrates."
"We can't have you reject our offer of appreciation," one of the villagers added. "Please accept our thanks."
What are they saying? Mason thought. Aren'tthese people are taking it too far?
"There must've been a misunderstanding, my dear people," Mason announced. "I didn't really fight the alpha, he suddenly–"
"Do what you're told!" Mia barked from behind the villagers. "You deserved that at least. The wolves would never again set their feet on our land, thanks to you."
She too? Mason wondered. She and her sister have shown no interest in marriage, as much as he could recall. Just what the heck is wrong with these people?
He glanced at Amie who was standing beside her. She nodded to him to do as he was told, beaming with a smile.
Mason thought for a moment and nodded.
"Okay," he said, relentingly, raising the corners of his lips into a mischievous grin.