Copyright © 2008 Tom Fowler
All rights reserved, Wild Child Publishing.
Garrett took a deep breath, flexed his elbow again, then slammed into the door with his right shoulder, forcing it open. He walked into the room, doing his best to act like he wasn't still nursing two serious injuries. Trying to walk on the ankle hurt, but Garrett gritted his teeth against it, then relaxed his expression when Caelan stormed into the room.
The apothecary's eyes went wide. "Surprised to see me?" Garrett asked. Caelan's mouth hung open. "You were expecting me to be on a rampage by now," Garrett went on. "In fact, you probably expected that last night. What did you put on those pages?"
Caelan blinked a few times before answering. "A mix of rare herbs," he said. "It makes true lycanthropes vulnerable to the moon for about 24 hours."
Garrett drew his katana from within his robes and gave it a twirl. Caelan's eyes fixated on the blade. "How did you know about me?" The wizard took a few measured paces, circling Caelan. He hoped the apothecary would want to avoid a fight.
"Like you, I know some of the right people," Caelan said.
"You will stop this misguided campaign of yours. If you want to help false lycanthropes, then help them. But hunting them certainly isn't doing anything--"
"It's getting a menace off the streets of this city." Caelan broke in. "But I wouldn't expect you to understand."
Caelan dashed across the room. He opened a large cabinet. The silver inside affected Garrett much more acutely with the cabinet door open. Caelan pulled out a silver longsword and began advancing toward the wizard.