Derek Ward

Chapter 7

Sometimes Weird Stuff Happens Even To Me

I woke up in the infirmary of the Guild. The fluorescent lights glared harshly into my eyes. My shoulder was bandaged and I could smell the herbal mixture used to treat archanal wounds. Moaning from the other stretchers in the room brought me around. The infirmary held twenty stretchers plus an operating room for five. About fifteen of the stretchers were filled, most of the occupants injured badly. I saw some clothing on the green floor next to my stretcher, a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, socks, and boots. Putting them on, I walked out of the infirmary. As I moved my shoulder, I could feel the tightening and loosening of stitches. As I stepped out of the door, a hand grasped my good shoulder. Wheeling on the heel of my foot, I turned to face the Guild’s doctor, a short stubby lycanthrope we called Burn. I gave him a great deal of respect, and not just because he had patched up some of my more serious wounds. Burn had been attending medical school when he was asked to join the Guild. How he had managed to graduate both medical school and our training camp at the same time amazed me.

“What the bloody fuck do you think you’re doing Ranger?” he asked in his normally quiet voice. Normally, I would have stopped. Burn was one of the few hunters that I actually respected enough to obey their instructions. (more…)

Chapter 6

All’s Fair In War

I didn’t hear from the Guildmaster for a couple of days after the Rite of Discovery, and didn’t speak to any of the other hunters. What was worse, I hadn’t heard from Bradon. From the message traffic on the hunters’ website, all of the vampires were laying low. They knew the lycanthropes were out for vengeance. The Bleeders were warning the other leeches to stay in their territory and do nothing to provoke the lycanthropes.

I was busy going through my gear. I had a hunch that I was going to need it. Hours were needed to go through the mass of electronics, climbing rigs, weapons, and other items to make sure all were in proper working order. I was, in fact, cleaning my Colt Commando when the telephone rang. (more…)

Chapter 5

Rites And Sidekicks

The next morning was in the Guildmaster’s office. There had been precious little new information since the meeting with the heads of the Guild, but it looked like the Guildmaster had waited in his office for all of the precious nuggets. When I walked in, the Guildmaster was reading the current situation report that the Red Knights had sent out to all of the involved parties.

“Well, the Knights have confirmed that our assassin fled the county after murdering Vollen,” the Guildmaster said. He sounded tired, but not dulled, “The bastard dog jumped the fucking interstate, then the Veterans, and we have him on the Suncoast. Got off in New Port Richey, and that’s where the trail goes cold. None of the lycanthropes in Pasco saw him. James is sending Little William up to the Pasco chapter to do some poking around.” Little William, whose packname was Shadow, was a lone wolf with a good reputation. He was very skilled at subtle intelligence gathering as well as close-quarters assassinations. (more…)