Chapter 16 - DON'T LEAVE ME

"As much as I would love to wait for you to roast or grill or whatever it is you both want to do to those fishes, I'm afraid I won't be able to anymore." A voice sounded from the top of a tree in the woods, startling both Raymond and Rina who were just about to get out of the water.

"You see, I have some urgent matters to tend to but there's something crucial I need for this matter to be executed perfectly. And this thing is in your hands." The voice said again, followed by a 'whoosh' as a man jumped down from the tree and started walking towards them. He stopped when he reached the bank and stretched his hand out. "Simply put, give me the map, or die. Your choice."

"I think you are mistaken. We do not have any of your belongings with us." Raymond explained, his eyes which had been roaming to examine the crazy looking wolves coming out from the forest, finally meeting the man's black ones.

The man though, didn't respond and only proceeded to lean against a tree.

"Slave guards?" Raymond asked in a whisper.

"No, much worse." Rina whispered back. " These are rogues. and I don't know which rogue pack it is yet."

"So you stole from rogues."

"Don't sound that way, it's kind of complicated." Rina whispered, trying to think fast. Frankly, she would have preferred being caught by the prison guards than being together in a place with rogues because everyone knew how dangerous and irrational the rogue's plaguing Lycanthrope Kingdom could be. Well, maybe one person doesn't know and that's why he wasn't feeling the tension she was beginning to feel.

She looked around and could only see rogues everywhere. Only a miracle could make them escape this one.

Raymond looked back at the man and saw him now gazing intently at Rina who was standing behind Raymond. Strangely, he didn't like the way the man looked at her.

"Are you bringing it out or not? Don't make me come take it myself." The man said, addressing Rina.

Raymond followed the man's gaze and his eyes landed on Rina's hand coming out of her inner dress, with a rolled up parchment tightly clutched in it.

"Is it truly theirs?" Raymond held her back, asking in a whisper. He tried looking at her but Rina was quick to avert her gaze.

"What does it matter?" Rina replied in the same whispering tone, "I have to hand it over. They are rogues and we cannot outrun them since they've encircled us already. We are trapped and there is no other option. I can only hope they'll leave if I give them what they want."

"Then, let me give it to him." Raymond proceeded to take the map from her. His heart thudded with an unsettling fear of anything going wrong with her.

"No! You stay right where you are as I'll only collect it from her." The man's voice sounded.

He was looking at them with a creepy kind of stare that was beginning to send chills down Rina's spine. She could only offer Raymond a brief smile as she removed his hand from hers, before wading through the water to the bank.

There was silence as Rina walked to the bank and the heaviness of the silence was just as heavy as her steps in the water. She kept having a strong feeling of something bad happening and her heart rate doubled in speed.

Just as she extended her hand, offering the map to the man, he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her out of the water, holding her captive against his chest.

"Kill him!" He ordered immediately, turning to leave with Rina.

"What?! No, Raymond!!" Rina yelled, struggling to escape from the rogue's strong grip.

In response to the man's order, some of the rogues lunged towards Raymond who was running out of the water while screaming for the man to let Rina go. The scene became chaotic.

"You bastard!!! You said to either give you the map or die and we gave you the map! But you wanted to kill us from the start. Put me down!" Rina yelled as she struggled with all her strength. She wasn't that naive as to not know what was going to happen to her.

If she were human and not a werewolf, it was normal for a girl her age to have been married off already.

"At least, you aren't being killed off from the start like pretty boy down there. You'll be treated specially before you die and if the boss likes you, you might - Arrrghhhh!!!!" The man screamed as he finally dropped Rina, and looked down at his belly. A long blood-dripping cut ran from his chest to his stomach where a knife was deeply stuck.

"You bitch!!! How dare you?!!" One of the rogues who saw what happened growled, lunging towards Rina but the injured man was faster in hitting Rina with a force that sent her flying.

With two more hits, Rina landed not far away from a severely injured Raymond. Every hit sent her innards shaking and when she couldn't take it anymore, she coughed up blood.

"Rina!" Raymond, who had been dealt with by the crazy rogues, called out. Since they've been asked to kill him, they weren't lenient in dealing with him, only prolonging the moment they'd deliver the final blow. For someone who had never had to fight, it was easy to subdue him.

"I was expecting a desperate struggle from an ability wolf. Turns out he's just a weak human," one rogue had said mockingly.

Slowly, Raymond desperately tried to reach Rina,

'You should be smiling. You shouldn't cry. You shouldn't be injured,' Raymond crawled closer with every thought, his blurry vision set on her.

' You're losing a lot of blood. I need to heal you so don't close your eyes! Rina, please.. keep looking at me,... don't close your eyes, don't leave me.. please...Rina..' he kept crawling towards her while the rogues jeered.

The rogue's gathered around them making way for the man who had slowly begun to transform. His arms and legs were already that of a wolf's.

"I was going to make you into something if you got lucky, thinking you didn't need to die. But now, you can just die." The man said, pulling out the knife from his tummy and flinging it down.

"Rina..." Raymond called, finally reaching her side, but he got no response. He looked at her chest for an indication of breathing but it stayed still.

'You've got me now. I'm your friend now. We're in this together and no one is leaving. I promise, Raymond,' Rina's voice began to ring in his mind as he looked at her bloody motionless body. "You promised not to leave me!" Raymond whispered desperately as he put his hand to her nostrils. He felt nothing.

"Kill that pathetic thing too and let's leave." The man who had been stabbed by Rina ordered as he fully transformed into his wolf so he could heal faster.

"Rina..," Raymond shook Rina's body again but there was no response no matter how hard he tried and finally,.... something broke within him.

"Just die, weakling!" A rogue yelled as he stabbed at Raymond's back with a knife while other rogues laughed. They had no idea, the next turn of events would be the last they would witness while breathing.

A 'clang' resounded as the knife bounced off Raymond's back and out of the attacker's hand.

"Is he wearing some armor? The weakling is wearing an armor underneath his-" The attacker started laughing while proceeding to confirm his guess but... his head flew off the next instant, blood spraying on the faces of other rogues standing close.

"W-wh- what??"

"What the hell is that??" They stumbled back, fear evident in their voices. "Oh shit!"

"R-r-runnnn!!" They screamed, stumbling as they turned tails and started fleeing.