Lineak did as the king insisted watching as the bed and a portion of the wall swung away revealing a small pasageway.  Without hesitation he walked through it.  The passage quickly opened into a large bedroom lavishly furnished with an enormous ornate bed, mirrors above the bed and above the headboad, and a small assortment of whips, chains and rope.

"What a man can't enjoy himself occasionally?"

Lineak wasn't about to ask any questions that he didn't want the answers to.  As inviting as the bed seemed he didn't want any part of what was on, or under, the sheets either.  As the passageway closed itself he sat down with his back against a wall facing the passage and proceeded to fall into a deep oblivion.  The clanking of metal boots on stairs was what roused him from his slumber.  It seemed the enemy were on the move. 

The werewolf thanked his lucky stars that he would be able to attack from below this time.  He'd catch the first few by surprise and then possibly have a bit of initiative to deal with the rest that were nearby.  Just as long as he were able to whittle down the numbers that reached the knights above.  He stood and stretched before heading for where the passage had been.  Guessing correctly he tilted a vase and watched the wall move aside.  Moments later he was moving stealthily up the stairs on the hunt.

The men ahead weren't even attempting to be quiet something Lineak took full advantage of.  It did look like they had some sort of a strategy for clearing the stairs though.  The first party he came upon was four men.  The man in the rear was an archer, the next held a pike and the remaining two held swords.  Lineak grinned evily as he went about the business of killing all four.  The strategy may have been effective if he had faced them head on.  He had no intention of doing that. 

As the last of the bodies tumbled to the floor the hunter took a closer look at the weapons and groaned, silver all of them.  Silver arrowhead, silver coated sword blades and even the pike had been dipped in silver.  This just kept getting better and better.

"Have you figured it out yet?"

Lineak  tried to put the king's voice aside but it was just too damn insistent.

"You and I are the same.  I was a werewolf just as you are now.  When they came to kill me the only way I could survive to fight another day was having my mistress seal my spirit away.  The only chance of being able to avenge myself was if another werewolf one day accepted my offer to help.  Now you and I are reliving and changing the past."

Another two flights of stairs back up the way he had come and another ten bodies had hit the floor.  Satisfied with the work he had done Lineak decided to turn back.  Whoever was sending the troops either was down below or had taken a different set of stairs upwards.  Finding him might be the best way to end the whole ordeal, or so he hoped. 

Down the stairs once again and floor after floor were eerily quiet.  Not just quiet but it was getting darker floor by floor.  Lineak could feel the strange sensation of his being pulled within himself as the king's being slowly started taking over his mind and body.

"We're getting closer.  He's getting closer."

Trapped within his own body Lineak could only sit back and watch the events unfold.  The events took yet another trip towards the strange as in the dim light of the stairwell skeletons lunged forward attempting to spit the king on the end of their spears.  Unable to contribute to the battle Lineak could only watch as his body was pierced by one and then another spear.  Remembering how ineffective his weapons had been against them he waited for the death stroke he knew was coming.  It never came.  Instead the king drew the dagger that had been given to Lineak hours earler and began to carve into the skeletons.  As he slashed sparks of red and purple flew from the blade.  Within moments the skeletons had been defeated each dissolving in a puff of smoke after being vanquished.

"We will heal but we need to keep moving.  He's close I can feel him."

The darkness seemed to grow until it completely suffocated the eyes.  Lineak was greatful the king seemed to be proficient at utilizing the other senses to a high degree even in a body that was not his own.  The sense of smell quickly became the primary sense and with it the king was able to latch on to a familiar odor.

"Malistare that evil bastard is here.  We're going to end this here and now."

The hunter in Lineak screamed out trap it's a trap! The words not making a difference as they passed in and out of his mind.  Bloodlust had overtaken the king and only the satisfaction of slaying the man who had tried to kill him would do.  He practically flew down staircase after staircase until reaching a landing on the fifth floor.  Arrayed in front of him were armor clad skeletons wielding spears.  They quickly surrounded Lineak and pointed their spear points towards him.  From below come haunting laughter and then he revealed himself, the Earl of Malistare in all of his skeletal horror.  Next to him the female figure wearng the tiara that Lineak had seen.  At the sight of the two hand in hand Lineak felt a rush of rage and shame wash over him.

"So, you've come to finally finish things."

"He's come to die.  Out with the old and on with the new.  The king is dead long live the king!"

From inside his own body Lineak growled, "This is it.  Finish things, finish it or die."

The king drew his dagger ignoring the skeletons arranged in a square around them he challenged the Earl to a duel for the kingdom.  A duel that the Earl happily agreed to.  Seconds later daggers clashed as the two figures began engaging in a fight to the death.

The king proved an adept warrior as he parried, thrust, and slashed at this adversary.  However it seemed his opponent was more than his match with a dagger.  As time and again the Earl lunged forward the point of his dagger taking small bits of flesh from exposed writs, forearms and biceps.  With each cut Lineak could feel the king starting to weaken.  Lineak did the only thing he could think of he used the last of his willpower in an attempt to force himself back to the surface surprised when it actually worked.  Now in control he wasted no time switching to werewolf form.

The earl laughed manically as he witnessed the change.  "You can't beat me like that."

It was true tooth and claw had been ineffective against the skeletons earlier.  Lineak had to have a plan.  He went on the offensive using his claws to parry the dagger coming his way and then striking out.  His strikes didn't do much more than irritate the Earl but it was all part of the plan.  Driving the Earl backwards he sensed an opening and took it.  Like before he parried a thrust before moving in.  Unlike the previous attempts Lineak reverted to human form with the dagger in his hand.  The opening was just there long enough for a single thrust deep to the chest.  Lineak's blow sent a wave of sparks traveling up and down the Earl's body.  As the sparks died down Lineak rammed the dagger into the Earl's skull unleashing another spray of sparks.  As the body first dropped and then vanished Lineak felt a blade pierce his flesh.

The blade took the last bit of control he had from him and he felt himself pulled back within himself.  the king took control of his body once again.  He turned to face who had stabbed him and staggered backwards.

"You! Why? I gave you everything.  Anything you wanted was yours for the asking."

The tiara clad woman slammed the dagger home once more this time sliding into Lineak's shoulder.  She moved in close, close enough to whisper to the king.

"What I want most is for you and for your whore to die.  She's next you know.  You couldn't be bothered to love me you had to love that peasant bitch.  How does it feel knowing you're dying because you couldn't love me?"

"It feels....it feels.  Like my...heir....will."

Lineak felt his body begin falling towards the floor almost as if in slow motion.  As it fell the king used a last burst of strength to slash out with his own dagger.  The dagger moved effortlessly through the skeleton woman's rib cage impacting with nothing and yet sparks began flying.   The dramatic moment was broken as all of those watching breathed out a single word as if on cue.  "How?"

The ghostly figure of the woman who had kissed him appeared next to him cradling him as he lay on the floor.  She stared at the skeletons still present as she answered the question that everyone had asked.

"I cursed her with a heart.  To feel the pain and sorrow she brought on everyone around her.  I had no idea the heart would be real."

To the king lying in her arms bleeding, "I love you.  Your son, our son, will make you proud.  Farewell my liege."

With the last of her words Lineak watched as she and the skeletons vanished.  The feeling of having another body inside of him evaporated as well.  It looked like whatever this had been was finally over.  Bleeding extensively he pushed himself over to a wall and sat up against it.  It would take some time before he was healed to the point he could finish descending the final few sets of stairs but he coudln't wait to get the hell out of this place.  He could only hope the hunting in the woods below didn't prove as...interesting as the trip down to it had been.


End