Siebold - Lee Savino Page 0,1

Herbs for memory, clarity, and purification.

“This won’t break the spell, but it will help.” I tossed the bundle at the wolf’s feet. Its only reaction was to lower its head and sniff, then sneeze. I stifled a smile. This wolf was dangerous, even if it was acting tame. It snuffed, its nose twitching once, twice. The jerky movement of its head calmed. It raised its head again and I Saw the evil hovering over it, manifesting as a dark swarm of flies.

I jerked up my hands and called my power.

The magic within me uncoiled slowly, moving through my limbs with a golden ripple. First only a trickle, then a steady stream, as if I’d unstopped a dam. The power wanted to flow from me in a wide arc, a flood.

The clean swath of magic met the buzzing evil of the wolf’s curse, and swept it away.

The wolf turned and ran. My power chased it, rolling over its giant furred body, searching for evil magic so it could wash it clean.

I tried to stop the flow of power, snatch it back, but it was too strong. A wild beast, longing to rage untamed.

It’d been too long since I'd allowed myself to use my powers. Even now, the golden current flowed through me, imbuing my limbs with power. The pressure rose behind my eyes as I tried to stuff it back into its cage. My stomach lurched and I staggered when it was done, feeling as if I’d bottled a raging river.

One day I would not be able to stem the tide. I would wield my power in front of everyone, and they all would know what I was.

But not today. I gathered up my basket and prepared to hurry down the well-trodden path as if I was an ordinary woman on her way to market. Before I turned away, a wind lifted the hairs at the back of my neck. I heard a whisper in the breeze, but I couldn’t make out the words.

I looked again for the golden wolf, but it was gone.

2

Siebold

The flies buzzed around my head. I snapped at them and they disappeared into dust motes dancing in the sun. The flies weren’t real. But still the buzzing whined inside my head. I scratched and scratched until the scent of blood rose in the air. Thorns stabbed me--I’d shredded my ears with my claws. The magic of the curse healed my ears in a sick-making surge. I gagged, tongue lolling in the air.

And that’s how I caught the scent. Sweet and light, sun rays and honey sizzling on my tongue. The angry buzzing dimmed.

I dragged myself towards the scent, wriggling like a worm past thick hemlock branches. Twigs dug into my sides as I pushed forward.

A light appeared on the path. Bright gold. The sun come down to earth.

I pushed closer and the light coalesced into a form. A woman. Her face was haloed, her dark skin shining like the honeyed sap from a tree. Her scent billowed over me in soft waves. I lifted my nose to the clean smell. My head cleared.

The woman knelt on the path. She moved suddenly and I growled.

“Stop that,” she snapped, and to my surprise, I did. It had been a long time since anyone gave me an order.

A bundle of green landed at my feet. I sniffed and sneezed at the harsh herbal scent. She murmured something again, words I could almost understand, if the flies buzzing around my head hadn’t started again. My flesh crawled, the evil within surging to attack.

If I had any honor, I’d run until I found a sea to drown in, and save this woman made of light. But the curse had me in its grip.

And then the sun before me blazed and drove every bit of madness from my bones. The immense power clamped down and shook me in its grip. I scrambled backwards, and it chased me, tingling up my back and ruffling my fur. I raced until I was out of its reach. But it was too late.

When it was gone, so were the flies. The buzzing and the rotten stench had been washed off my fur. The madness I’d worn like a decrepit cloak had burned away. Nothing stood between me and my memories.

Once I was a man. I stood on two feet. I held an axe in my hand.

And I destroyed every good thing. I broke the bonds of honor and was cast out by my pack. They banished me