The Last Pack

Did command really allow this……

“Captain Varellian”

……Were they really sacrificing this……

        “Captain Varellian!”

……Are they seriously giving into his demands……

        “Captain Varellian! The Drop!”

……Why are they doing this?!

“CAPTAIN VARELLIAN! THE DROP! WE GOTTA GO NOW!”

Finally I was awoken from my stupor by now Staff Sergeant Vasquez. I looked over to Vasquez with sorrow and pain in my eyes and asked, “Why……why did this have to happen?”

        “Sir, with all due respect we have our orders and we need to follow them. Now get your lazy behind up off the bench and GO! The Drop is right below us, we have to go NOW!” Vasquez was yelling at me above the hum of the helicopter blades. I shook my head to rid the doubt and worry from my mind and put on a brave face.

        “Lets get this over with Vasquez” I said coldly as I brushed past him, readying myself for the drop. I yelled back to Vasquez, “You ready for this Staff Sergeant!?”

        “That I am sir! Let’s go get your wife back, and get some payback for what that wretch did to your brother!” He replied enthusiastically, with a grin that could make even the coldest of hearts smile.

        “Then lets go!” I yelled as I jumped from the helicopter.

It’s been almost 3 weeks since our last operation that was supposed to be a rescue op of my brother, Corporal Varellian, and my wife, Major Lynn, during that time Sergeant was promoted to Staff Sergeant and placed permanently within my squad for future operations, due primarily to the fact he had found out what the, “Lupine Demon”, truly was.

“T-Minus 45 seconds to deployment of chutes sir!” Yelled Vasquez above the whistling air. I gave him a slight nod in conformation that I had received his update.

When we returned from the rescue operation, Vasquez was mortified of me, terrified, angered, and most of all felt only empathy towards me. It took over a week for him to recover from this state. When he had, I explained to him what that exactly was.

        “Sir, you mean to tell me that you were born with this, this Demon?” Vasquez asked me between bites of his food.

        *sighs* “For the last time, it isn’t truly a demon. It’s more of a guardian.” I said taking a sip of my root beer.

        “Can we run through this one more time as to what it is? I still don’t get it.” he asked with an irritated but pondering tone.

        “Alright, but this is the last time Vasquez.” I told him with a slight sigh of anger.

        “Deploy the Chutes!” I heard Vasquez yell above the whistling of the wind going past my ears. As he said this I proceeded to pull the cord to release the chute, which almost like a sack of feathers being flung open into a wind tunnel, shot up and yanked me hard to slow my descent to the calm treetops that laid below us.

        “Alpha to Delta, we arrived at the drop point, where’s our pickup?” I said into the walkie talkie. Within a minute they responded.

        “Delta to Alpha, The pickup should be there T-minus 30 seconds, should be coming up the north path.” I heard them say through the walkie talkie. Music to my ears.

        As I ended the conversation I motioned Vasquez to follow me to the nearby path to await our pickup.

        No sooner that I had put my helmet on did the pickup come roaring down the path, stopping only 3 feet in front of us. In the drivers seat was someone that I looked familiar, yet I could not place my finger on it.

        “You gonna stand there gawking, or ya gonna get in? I ain’t got all day!” said the driver mildly irritated at me. I shot him a glare that made him turn back to face forward. “Whatever, just get in.”

        “Got it mate, but first things first, do I know ya from somewhere? You seem very familiar, yet I can’t place my finger on it.” I asked the familiar looking man.

        “Never seen you before in my life.” He replied. He sounded like he was trying to hide something, but I waved it off as anxiety.

        As soon as I had gotten into the passenger seat of the pickup, the driver started to head towards our destination. When I thought more and more about where I had seen him before. I started thinking that maybe I was wrong and I had never seen him before.

Do not let your guard down around Aurora, Solstice, he is dangerous.

Ummm……how do you know his name? and why do you know him?

Just trust me Solstice, he is not to be trusted. Stay alert and don’t take your eyes off him for a minute, or it will be your last.

How am I to trust a being that I have no clue if it is benevolent, or malevolent? And why do you keep calling me Solstice? That’s not my name, my name is-

You are Lionel Jecht Varellian. Born to Beatrice Varellian, and to Zachary Varellian. Your brother was -

STOP! I get it, you know my family, but that doesn’t give me a single reason as to why I should trust you.

It is not my place to make you trust me, you may trust me, or you may think I lie and find out for yourself.

Fine……I’ll trust you, primarily because I don’t trust him anymore than I do you, but evidently you know me somehow, so I’ll do this.

        No sooner did I say that, did I feel the presence leave my mind once again. I turned my gaze towards the driver, who was mysteriously called Aurora by the……thing in my mind. I watched him for the entire trip making sure he didn’t try anything funny. He occasionally asked a question, usually it was about me or my wife. It wasn’t anything too personal or revealing, just the basic questions like what we like to eat, our favorite color, etc. It was an hour long trip to the Headquarters that held my wife and the Commander who was waiting patiently for me to hand over the codes that command had so eagerly given up to get the Major back.

        The last time I saw any of these troops, they were at the mercy of my Lupine form…

        “The, “Lupine Demon”, as many call it, isn’t truly a demon but a guardian. It senses the fear, hatred, and sadness within the air turning it into strength and using that in violent bursts to give it the strength it needs to operate. Sadly when doing this, it lowers the time I am able to use it. If I were to just go about a normal life, and fought normally on the battlefield in that form, I would be able to control it for up to a week at most. Yet when I fight like I did during the rescue operation, the guardian senses, I am losing control slowly and starts to act on it’s own, which in turn, slowly causes it to take me over. In only one case, has it ever fully taken control. That was the day, that it was made known to the world, that there was a demon among them, a Lupine Esque Demon. No one had a clue what it really was, and luckily they didn’t think that it could be anyone, so they didn’t think to do tests on people to see if the demon resided within one single person. That was my third time going Lupine, and I hoped it would be the last, but that was before I discovered how to force the transformation. Thing is, after using my Lupine Form, it can take anywhere from 2 days to a month for my body to be able to recover before doing it again. So you won’t be seeing me like that again for a while, you can count on that. As you saw, even though it is Lupine in nature, it is also human like. Some people would call it an anthropomorphic creature, which means to have human like traits and characteristics, yet many would call it just purely, a demon. I was born with the Lupine form, as far as I know that is. The first time I had ever transformed, was purely by accident and from anger and sadness overwhelming me.” As I said this my face grew dark and I fought back tears……

        “Sir? Are you coming in?” asked Vasquez, I assumed he was talking to me and I was simply out of it again.

        “Sorry Vasquez, was just thinking about some stuff. Let’s go and get this over with.” I replied, sighing slightly due to my irritation. I know command thinks my wife is important, but these codes……these codes could be the very thing that could be used against the people we have fought so hard to protect. So why were they giving it up so eagerly?

        As we breached the threshold of the building, it reeked of sweat, smoke, and unwashed clothing. As the smell met my nose I resisted the strong urge to empty my breakfast that I had only a couple hours ago.

        “Gah! What is that putrid smell?!” I asked to the lurking nearby still, Aurora.

        “That tis the smell of our people. I thought you would love it considering your people smell worse.” He replied with a smug grin. If I weren’t on this mission for my wife, I would have slit his throat then and there.

        “I haven’t said one word about your people, good or bad, so don’t talk about americans like that again, or I will not hesitate to slit your throat the next time kid.” I growled back to him. He retreated to the back to get something. When he returned, he brought along with him a swath of clothing, a knife in the bundle, and a dog-tag.

        “I may be your enemy, but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a little something to remember your brother, after what we did to him.” He said with a face that of sorrow and sincerity. He held out the clothes and items to me. I took them in my arms and wiped my hand across them.

        “Thank you for what it’s worth.” I said dipping my head low resisting the urge to drop then and there and just stop. One day, these barbarians will pay for what they did to you, and when they do, I’ll paint a beautiful picture with their brain matter, organs, entrails, and blood.

        I didn’t have long to think. As soon as I had lifted my head back up I heard the door swing open behind me. What met my eyes was both a sight that made my heart flutter and made me enraged. They brought in my wife along with the very man that we were here to trade with. The very man who made my life hell for the past 4 months.

        “I guess you decided to take up my offer Lionel. I was hoping so dearly that you would.” Said the Commander. “But perhaps, you had no choice in it now did you?” he said with a sly grin.

        “Listen to me, give me my wife, and I’ll give you the codes. If you want to strike conversation, I’m the wrong person to do so with, especially after what you and your men have done to my family” I said coldly. He cringed then responded.

        “Oh, you don’t want to converse with me? That’s quite cold, considering all I’ve done for you.” As he said this I could feel my blood run hot with rage. I then felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned around half expecting it to be Vasquez, but what I saw was less than expected.

        I saw putting its hand on my shoulder, the very creature I could become. The Lupine Demon. This was my first time ever seeing it, and now I could see why so many were terrified of it. The Right eye was a bright cyan blue, and the left eye was a bright orange, yet instead of the eyes of a dog, they were that of a dragons. Slits instead of pupils. Under the right eye, there was a maroon red mark in a crescent moon shape, the inside facing up towards the eye. From the top of its right and left eye it had a long maroon red streak with various colors flowing through it as well, that seemed to twinkle and move as though it was the night sky. On the hands and feet were open pentagons with a single triangle in the middle. This same pentagon was present on the tail as well, the streak that went along the back split onto the two sides of the tail and created an arc that reached the tip of the tail but left the middle of the tail with the pentagon the midnight black fur that made up the rest of its body.

        No sooner had I seen this had I almost fainted. I stumbled backwards into the commander. I looked around to see if anyone else had seen it, to find out that what I had seen it was only an illusion of the mind.

        “Please tell me I wasn’t the only one to see that?!” I asked with a strong hint of fear sewn into my voice.

        “Saw what? You turned around then stumbled backwards into me then asked us if we saw something? What did you see?” the commander replied.

        “You seriously didn’t see it?” I asked in disbelief. I know I had seen it, I know it was there. That wasn’t just some trick of the mind, I felt its hand on my shoulder.

        “No, now get up and be professional. I don’t care if i’m an enemy or not, at least have the common decency to be nice, and not go nuts in the middle of a serious matter. Now then, as we were saying before you rudely interrupted. I will give you your wife, when I get the codes.” He said irritated by the interruption I had caused.

        “Sorry, must’ve been a trick of the mind. Yet, you will not get the codes until I have my wife in my arms, considering how bad of a condition you have left her in.” I motioned towards her wounds on the arms and sides as I said this.

        “Oh no no no, you see Lionel, this isn’t a you give me and I give you in return deal, it’s either you give me the codes, or you will never see her again.” As he said this, he pulled his pistol out of the holster and put it against Jazmines head. I jumped a little then he pulled the hammer back making a clicking sound, “Ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, I might lose grip of the hammer.” He said with a victorious grin.

        “Fine, how about I give you the codes, and you give me my wife at the same time. Does that sound better?” I tried to negotiate with the commander.

        “That would have worked better in the first place Captain, now we will do it on 3.” He replied

“2” I grabbed my wifes arm as he grabbed the case.

“3” I let go of the case as he let go of my wife.

        “Good, now we can be on our ways, see? It wasn’t that hard, now was it?” The commander said almost sounding like someone completely different.

        “Remember, if I ever see you again Commander, you will die, and what you have done to Jazmine, and my brother shall not be forgotten.” I said coldly making the room grow silent along with making my blood run cold. Something was wrong. I felt something grasp my shoulder again. Everything had stopped, the commander in mid laugh, Vasquez opening the door, my wife tripping over a rock as I led her out the door. When I turned around, it wasn’t a human hand, but it was the Lupine Demons.

        “What caused that first transformation. Was the death of my father, my anger directed towards the individual offender, and the sadness pouring from my father as he faded away. It was a peaceful day, everything was going perfect, it was my 4th birthday and I was out with my father, picking out a new toy. On our way home we decided to take a shortcut to our house, yet that shortcut we had always taken, that had always been safe. Became the final spot I would ever see my father alive. As we walked down the alleyway, 5 people in total, blocked our exit in front of us and behind us. In the middle there was a single person, a face that I will never forget, one that I will find even if it takes the rest of my life. He walked slowly up to my father with a knife. He said, “Give me everything you have pops, and you can go free, along with your kid there.” My father being the one who never gives anything up without a fight said, “You can get what I have when you pry it from my cold dead unbreathing corpse. If you want to fight, you can more than guarantee you will lose. Now let us through.” The guy started laughing and said, “I have a knife, you have nothing, I could kill you in one-” He was cut off by my father punching him in the stomach causing him to drop to the ground where he took the knife from his hand, and stabbed in into his back. At this the other four jumped in to help the wounded man. My father fought bravely, but in the end. My father was stabbed by the very same person, with the very same knife through the throat, causing him to bleed out. When I saw him get stabbed I felt anger surge through my body, power, and plethora of other feelings at once. It felt good. I let the anger overtake me. Then I suddenly grew four times my height and I had claws and had perfect night vision. I used those claws to take the lives of 4 of the 5 men. Sadly I did not get the one who had murdered my father in cold blood. My father was a good man, and would give anything for his family, even his own life. After that day I tried to keep the, “Lupine Demon”, under control. After the third time, only then was it that I learned the control that I truly needed. Do I know what it looks like when I’m in that form? The answer is no, I don’t, and honestly I do not even have the slightest inclination to know, especially considering the fear that is placed into the souls of those who see me in that form. The investigations as to what this, “Demon”, was were quickly shut down to avoid it from reaching the public on a mass scale to cause mass hysteria. Then the rest of my story you already know kid.” I said finishing with my hands shaking. “I hope you got all that because I’m not saying it all again.” I said to Vasquez.

        All he could respond with was a nod, telling me that he had finally understood who and what I was. What I truly was.

        “Lionel, be calm I am not here to hurt you.” I heard it saying in a deep voice laced with my voice. “I see the worry in your eyes and in your soul. I dare not to hurt you. You inherited my gift for a reason, that reason I have not come to know yet, even after the many years I have been within you.” the creature said to me.

        I stumbled backwards and fell onto the ground. “Who….Wh…..Who are you?!” I yelled almost crying from fear.

        “Lionel please, be calm I wish no harm upon you. I am the embodiment of the guardian given to Lost Solstice, by Luna. From what I can tell as of late, Luna has been speaking with you trying to give you guidance to no avail. Please trust her, she wishes to help you for some reason. Her reasons are her own and I have no place to question them so please just listen to her and trust her, as you have trusted me.” He replied in a soothing tone. He moved over to me and held out a hand to help me up. I grasped the hand and he pulled me up.

        “Luna? Who’s Luna? and that doesn’t really answer my question, who are you? What is your name? What are you exactly?” I asked trying to get the questions out while I could.

        “Luna is the goddess of the night sky and moon, How could you forget the godd-” I cut him off.

        “Goddess of the night sky and moon? What in the heck are you talking about? There are no gods or goddesses of the night that reside here on Earth. Also what do you mean these thousand years?” I replied with a tone of irritation and disbelief.

        “You seriously mean to tell me that you know not of the Tyrant Queen that was fought over a thousand years ago and the goddess that led, “The Pack”, into battle with her?” it said in disbelief.

        “No! I have no clue what you talk about! The year is 2013! Back in 1013 the Roman Empire still existed, but has long since been dead. If that is what you’re talking about then you have some facts wrong.” I replied almost yelling due to the absurdity of the situation. How could such an ill-informed being live inside me? Let alone be a part of me?

        “You mean to tell me, this world, this country, isn’t Equestria?” He asked dumbfounded.

        “NO! This is Planet Earth, and the country we’re in right now is Indonesia! Not any place named Equestria! Now please, tell me who you are and who this “Luna” person is please.” I replied to the dumbfounded creature that stood before me.

        “Well then, this is a problem and quite weird for me. As to who I am, I am Azriel the Protector, commonly called by you and many others, “The Lupine Demon”. When by far I am not a demon, but a mere manifestation of the soul of those who possess my power. You being the second retainer of my existence. The first being Lost Solstice who has long since been dead, but now that I am back I have the feeling he is alive again. As to who Luna is, I cannot say, as it is not my place. When you “lose control” it is not me taking control, but the feral nature of the wolf taking over and clouding your mind.” He said hastily as if something were wrong. “Anyways I don’t have much more time before this time barrier dissolves and time starts again. So I say goodbye Lionel, and I wish you luck. If you need to talk with me just remember, it only takes a look over the shoulder and the thought of me to do so.” He said fading into the dark.

        No sooner had he faded time started again and I appeared back in the building carrying Jazmine out of the building. As soon as we exited the building I was tackled by two of the guards.

        “What in blazes are you doing?! We had a deal! Let us go!” I yelled as the two guards brought me to my feet binding my feet and hands together, along with Jazmines. I looked over to see Vasquez knocked out and being binded as well.

        “Oh yes we had a deal Varellian, but you never had a deal that you would be allowed safe passage home.” Said the commander giving off a sinister smile as he said so.

        “You’re lucky I’m still recovering then Commander, or you would be dead already!” I growled through my teeth.

        “Oh yes, just as I was lucky those thousand years ago.” He said making me widen my eyes in fear. Was he truly from a thousand years ago?

LIONEL! I recognize that voice! It’s Commander Bolt! How is he even here?! It’s been over a thousand years!

What?! How in the heck is he still alive? That’s what I really want to know!

I have no clue, but this can’t be good!

You’re telling me, wait……How are you talking to me now?

No clue but he’s talking so listen!

        “Say goodbye Solstice, the Tyrant Queen awaits you.” As he said this something opened up in the ground mere feet behind us. I looked back to see Vasquez being thrown in.

        “NOOOO!” I cried piercing the very air. I turned to the commander. “HOW DARE YOU!! I WILL KILL YOU BOLT! YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS!” I yelled feeling Azriel breaching the barrier built up.

Let me out and I’ll take him down!

I can’t! I’ll die if that happens!

Crap……This recovery period just had to be this long…… didn’t it?

        “Oh save it Solstice, but it seems you finally recognized me. Yet it’s all too late.” He responded with a grin that would make even the craziest, and evilest of souls cringe in fear.

        As he said this he threw me and Jazmine into the gaping hole into the ground, what I saw wasn’t a pit of spikes, fire, or anything else I had expected. It was a pure yellow ooze that covered the bottom of the pit. As I hit the surface of the ooze everything went dark.