Hazel Eyes in the Moonlight

by Oddling

30 - Stoking Embers

With a deep earth-crunching boom that mercilessly flung a wave of compressed air into Jim’s back, a dark orb slammed into the ground near the group he protected. Chunks of the broken ground were sent hurdling from the point of impact crumbling against the werewolf’s body.

Jim grit his teeth and cursed silently as the sting of a cut on his left ear made itself known; another among the rapidly growing collection elsewhere on his body. Though he was mildly concerned for his injuries, Jim worried more for the ponies he protected. All he could see was a cloud of dust in the air and the smell of upturned earth filled his nose. He could only hope that the bodies in his grasp had been spared from the flying debris.

Fortunately there was enough of a breeze and the obstruction to his senses began to quickly disperse. Though Jim did not move himself just yet. He hissed through grit teeth as his ears swiveled, straining to hear past the dull ringing from the air displacement. Though not as clear as he would have liked, he could hear thuds from the pieces of earth that had been sent furthest into the air. However he had yet to feel any of them hitting his back or head. Feeling that he needed to better assess the condition of those he had shielded Jim pulled his body away enough to look at the group beneath him.

Having felt him shift the tightly huddled bundle of ponies slowly started to release each other. Fluttershy gently pulled in her wings, having quickly slipped them around the younger fillies, and joined Jim in quickly looking over everypony. From the wide eyes and swiveling ears it seemed that their efforts had kept the kids protected. Alright. Kids are safe here, Jim thought as he released some of his concern in a slow breath through his nose. He then turned his gaze toward the schoolhouse.

The grounds were littered with bits of the broken earth that had erupted near where Jim stood. Aside from more broken windows on the school everything else, including the students, seemed fine. Even the troublemakers were no worse for wear. For a brief moment Jim was lightly annoyed. A part of him thought it would have served them right if karma had kicked them a little. Instead he was quite pleased as it meant one less inconvenience for his forming plan. Having everyone able to move on their own meant he could get them to safety. Maybe karma would even the scores later for them.

Jim’s attention was swiftly pulled away from the kids when another series of booms swept through the air. His head snapped toward town, watching more dark orbs falling from the sky. His eyes darted up to spot any others near his location, but only found thick dark clouds.

“What’s happening?” came Apple Bloom’s voice.

“A big problem if I had to guess,” Jim answered and moved to usher the kids toward the school. “I need you all to gather everyone up. I may not know much about magic or your world, but dark clouds plus ominous feelings in your gut mean the bad guy has made a move.”

“Jim’s right,” Fluttershy quickly cut in. “We should get everypony to Twilight’s Castle. It’s the safest place.”

Jim nodded to her and looked to the kids. “It’s not as close as I’d like, but it’s a start. Get everyone together and wait by that tree next to the playground. I need to-“

A sound similar to a coconut cracking open in a press, followed by a shrieking hiss stilled Jim. All heads darted toward the bright green flames licking up fiercely from the three orbs in the ground while Jim slowly turned to face it. In moments the magic fire that had stretched nearly as high as twenty feet took on a life all its own. In an act of defiance to the laws of physics the fire slithered its way back down. The flames became unidentifiable blobs, quickly cooling, crackling, and changing shape. It was a shape that made anger boil up from within Jim.

As his lips trembled, threatening to bare his fangs viciously, Jim lowered his stance gently. The orbs were now a trio of smoking creatures that might have once been a wolf of some kind. With bodies that resembled larger timber wolves that had been wrapped with a skeleton, they stared towards him with hollow smoking sockets. MORE abominations! Jim thought bitterly. Why does this world INSIST on making me have to deal with these THINGS? Why must I have to SEE them? LOOK LIKE ONE!?

A low growl rumbled through Jim’s throat as his hands softly met the ground, only to flex and drive his claws into the soil. His great displeasure towards what stood before him began to surge. Yet before he could act upon his desire to tear the green and charred bodies in front of him apart, a trembling hoof gently touched his back leg.

Instantly Jim remembered what was behind him and he flicked an ear back. “You all need to run. Get the others, now.”

“I’m sorry… but I can’t…” came Cheerilee’s strained reply.

Not willing to take his eyes off of the other wolves, Jim only spared a quick glance back to the teacher. Though it was a brief glimpse, Jim immediately spotted the problem. Cheerilee was in pain.

Shit… Jim thought and no sooner had he looked back to his enemies the eyes of the wolves flared to life with sickly green orbs. “How bad is it? These things aren’t going to wait.”

Fluttershy quickly moved to Cheerilee’s side to look for the cause. Cheerilee simply put up a hoof and shook her head. “My back leg. Something hit it. I know I’m bleeding, but I can’t say if it’s broken or not. I just can’t get onto my hooves…” she paused and closed her eyes with a wince. “You need to go without me.”

The children gasped.

“We can’t leave you behind!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, the others voicing their agreement. Cheerilee smiled as best she could.

Jim, sensing where things were going, snapped his head to the side with a curt growl. “Then I’m changing the plan!” He looked back to the wolves and bared his fangs. “All of you stay put and don’t you dare move!”

The three other wolves opened their maws in response to Jim’s display, thick dark slime dripping out, and they sprinted forward. In the same moment, letting loose a bellowing roar, Jim bolted toward his targets on all fours.

Anger and adrenaline fueled the werewolf’s body as he closed the distance to his enemies. He did not like how close the wolves had been to the group. The fact remained that he had not used his body for this kind of encounter yet. Just from sprinting, Jim’s claws and strength had powered through the dirt, throwing him forward faster than anything he had experienced. He knew there was a margin of error. Yet there was nothing else he could do, and there was no time to waste.

In mere moments the two sides entered the point of no return. It was then that the wolves made their move. The center wolf lurched forward with a last second burst of speed, its intent to sink its gnarled fangs into Jim clear as day. The wolf on Jim’s right made a leap to the side, its gaze locked onto Jim’s neck. The final wolf however, had different plans. As an unholy shriek forced its way out of the third creature it burst forth into an arc outside of Jim’s striking range; its empty gaze fixated on the ponies behind the werewolf.

Though the method of attack from the wolves was not outside of expectations, it was still one that Jim had not wanted to happen. Unlike the timber wolves these things moved faster and somehow moved in synchronization with each other. Up until the two had moved to the sides all three had run forward in step with the other. Even then, their split maneuver had been performed with near precise timing.

The time had come. A choice was to be made. So with nary a single heartbeat of time to spare, Jim followed through with his heart’s desire to protect what was important to him. Using his larger size against the wolf in front of him, Jim barreled forward. A swift uppercut sent his left hand up beneath the creature’s head, the speed and power behind the move beyond what the wolf expected. Jim’s palm slammed into the wolf’s throat, eliciting a crunching sound similar to breaking wood, and his claws quickly dug into its neck. At the same time, Jim twisted to simultaneously send his other hand to grab the backside of his prey and shoulder the open maw of the second wolf away from his own neck.

The jaws of the second wolf were bumped away from a vital spot but still managed to impact with the side of Jim’s face. He winced from the sting of fresh cuts to his cheek, but Jim refused to let that stop him. Skidding to a quick stop, the werewolf’s baleful gaze sought out the third abomination. It had gained some distance from him, now only a few bounds away from the ponies; its sights set on the butter yellow pegasus as she fearfully stood in front of the others.

Jim flexed his legs and drove his back claws into the dirt. Before the wolf in his grasp knew what was happening, raw and unbridled physical strength saw the thing hurled at astonishing speed. And with deadly accuracy the wolf crashed into the third. A plume of bright green embers and splinters erupted from the impact as the two bodies tumbled away from the ponies.

Jim snorted with satisfaction. He had managed to buy some time. His attention was swiftly brought back to his other problem as the thing slammed into him from the side. The strength of these creatures was greater than Jim had expected as he was nearly bowled over. Through sheer instinct, sprinkled delicately with a healthy dose of luck, Jim managed to keep from falling to the ground. However, luck is known for its fickle nature. Having made enough of an opening with its attack, the ember wolf lurched its head up and bit into its target.

Searing pain erupted as uneven fangs sank into Jim’s ribs, forcing a roar from him. The moment was short lived. Being what he is Jim was no stranger to pain, and before he had finished his roar his body was in motion. In one swift movement both of his hands sunk his claws into the skull and spine of his attacker. The next move saw the head and body of the offending abomination flung in opposite directions.

Damn it, Jim growled as his ribs burned. He refrained from clutching his wound, but still took a second to look at it. The dark slime from the wolf’s mouth coating the injury was most likely the reason for the intense burning sensation, but the small bits of glowing fangs protruding out did not help either. There was no doubt that being bitten by that thing was near the top of his list of experiences he never wanted to repeat.

His eyes looked back to the remains of the creature. Though he had expected it to be dead, he was surprised that the body was simply… crumbling where it lay. Curious, he looked back to the other two he had dealt with before. One of the other two had crumbled almost to the point of being mere dust, but the other was not. No, its hindquarters had been shattered beyond recognition, but it was still using its one intact foreleg and a remaining stump to inch closer to its targets.

A small part of Jim felt slight admiration for the thing, that even in its broken state it still tried to fulfill whatever purpose it had. The little part of him was washed away by the fact that it was still a false, empty husk that brought shame to his wolf heritage. You do not deserve to wear that image, Jim thought as he steadily stalked forward on his back legs. You are empty. Hollow. You care nothing for your kin. You care nothing for the life you take.

The broken wolf’s body stopped as Jim stepped in front of it. Its decrepit head turned up and its maw opened, dark fluid gurgling from its throat. Jim simply glared down at it. The two held their gazes with the other for a time. Then, Jim’s glare melted into a look of firm acceptance and he swiftly reached down. The broken wolf gurgled as its head was forced to the ground. Any struggle it might have tried to give was snuffed out when Jim lowered his head to stare into its eyes once more.

“I will find the one who created you,” he began, his voice low and firm. “They will pay for what they have done. But I will not allow you to exist. You may look like a wolf, but that is all we share in common. You did not obey the code. The balance…” Jim’s claws sunk into the back of its skull, “…will be restored.”

Author's Note:

Whew... it's been 10 months since I last posted. Time has just vanished for me. Sorry it took so long, but at least I finally got another chapter written. With my back problems forcing me out of work I've had some time on my hands, so I might even get more written in the next few weeks.

The wait has been long, but I still hope you all enjoy the new chapter.

Comments

[SilverNightWolf]

Well, this is a surprise update.
And I'm happy!

With that said there is, however, an absurd amount of spacing between 99% of the paragraphs here.
Also you have a typo here:

The wolf on Jim’s right made a leap to the side, it’s gaze locked onto Jim’s neck.

If there are other errors then I haven't seen them.

Great chapter anyhow!
Glad to see you're back!

[Oddling]

Thanks for pointing that out. I somehow missed that little bugger.

I'm also not sure what happened with the spacing. I type up my stuff in Microsoft Word then copy/paste it here. It's been a while so maybe the devs changed up something again. In any case I took care of the typo and tightened things up a little.

Thanks for the feedback I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter.

[The Spy of the Tiger]

Glad to see a new chapter, even if it is one of my personal least favorite types of chapter, being a silent fight scene. Not to say this chapter is bad, or poorly written or anything, just not my cup of tea. Still, I can't wait to see further development involving Scootaloo. That's my favorite part of this story right now.