Arrow Inferno

***

Ryan's eyes widened at his wolf's words. What was that Deloris had said? He could do anything, right? Well, what if he summoned Reynard's powers, using his own blood? He could create a point of contact, focus on that, and then drain the bastard. Ryan shrugged out of his hoodie, leaving on the t-shirt beneath. The monster's blood ran through him, right? Why not put that blood to good use? He looked around for something to cut himself with...like a knife. Immediately he thought of it, a knife appeared in his hand.

"Cool," Ryan muttered to himself. "Sorry, Jeremy." He groaned. From what he'd learnt recently, he was about to inflict pain on his mate.

'Hey,' Ryan heard his wolf, 'how about we do this together? The pain will not be too bad and you can heal faster.'

And that was when Ryan began to transform into a wolfman, right before the eyes of the prisoners, Reynard, and unbeknownst to him, his pack who were watching him from behind the protective circle that had been created by Deloris and Camilla. His clothes fell off his hairy body in tatters. The wolfman then made a deep cut in his palm and allowed his blood to pour onto his hoodie which lay on the ground, to the shock of his pack.

'Ryan?' Gloria gasped at the amount of blood that Ryan was losing. 'Whatever you're planning on doing with that, don't you think it's enough?' She asked sternly.

'I think the more, the better, mum.' Ryan murmured. 'Hey Deloris, shouldn't there be a spell or poem or whatever that I could recite to transfer that monster's essence into this blood-soaked hoodie?' Ryan asked.

Deloris' eyes widened in awe when she finally figured out what Ryan meant to do. As a warlock, she appreciated the art of magic. And Ryan looked like he knew what he was doing, which impressed the hell out of Deloris. Although she had faith in him, she'd still feared for him. After all, that was Reynard Wyatt he was going up against. The man was experienced and cunning. But Deloris realized she had nothing to fear. Ryan was in total control. Deloris couldn't help the grin that brightened her face or hide the pride in her voice when she responded to Ryan;

'Damn, I love the way you think.' She chuckled. 'You don't need a spell, honey. Your powers are above that of a warlock. Just will it.'

'Just will it.' Ryan repeated. 'Okay...here goes...' And he willed his wish with all his might.

The wolf man's eyes glowed bright blue as he stretched forth hands that suddenly lit up, towards his blood-soaked hoodie. A pulse of energy which looked like a mixture of ice and fiery dust shot outward from both palms and began to swirl at the speed of light, around the hoodie. Ryan's goal was to squash and neutralize any power that Reynard had. It was time to crush the man once and for all.

Reynard's eyes widened when the cloud began to clear and the torrential rain reduced to drizzles. He could feel himself becoming lighter. He was losing his powers...and fast. He had to do something... anything, Reynard thought desperately. Well, time to solicit help from his allies... Demons!

"Kazimi!" Reynard roared with all his energy to summon the Kazi Demon and his minions.

Each minion of the Kazi demon was known to possess incredible strength and could exert high pressure on the skulls of its victims, which usually caused the victim's veins to engorge till they exploded. Reynard needed that kind of strength to face the wolfman who was hell-bent on defeating him. He smiled excitedly when about twenty slimy-green creatures suddenly materialized out of nowhere. The Lord Command didn't think Ryan stood a chance against Kazi and his troop. The demon owed him. It was time to collect.

A surprised Ryan stared at the creatures but never stopped what he was doing for even a second. The biggest amongst the slimy creatures who was obviously Kazi himself ambled close to Reynard and asked what he could do for him. Reynard pointed a finger at Ryan and screamed;

"Kill him!"

The Kazi demon immediately gave a command to his minions to attack even before he turned around to look at who he was attacking. But just one look at the wolfman with glowing eyes and the demon was ordering his minions to abort. "What?" Reynard screeched. "You owe me." He sputtered.

"Yeah, and I will pay." The demon responded in an inhuman voice. "Just call me when you're faced with a more...killable adversary. We don't do gods."

"What do you mean, gods?" Reynard bellowed, feeling himself shake with anger. "He's no god. He's just a boy. He's my son."

The confused look that appeared on the demon's face was almost comical. "I thought you killed all your..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah listen, you have to help me. Please..." Reynard couldn't believe the slimy, ungrateful scum was actually making him beg. He could feel himself weakening by the second for fuck's sake. "Please..."

"But...I don't have a death wish, Warlock." The demon pointed his four thumbs at himself. "I'll definitely be vanquished one day." He added with a careless shrug. "Just not today. Sorry, pal." With that, the demon and his minions disappeared. "No, no, no..." Reynard looked desperate. Time to make a deal with his son. "Hey, Ryan..." He called out shakily. Could the massive creature even hear him, Reynard wondered. "Ryan...listen to me..." When the wolfman turned his head to look at him, Reynard managed a beseeching look. "Imagine what we can do together if we join forces. We're both obviously deliciously twisted. Let's work together. From the look of things, you're the only person who can match me blow for blow." "No deal, old man." The wolfman said in a deep, inhuman voice. "You just have to blow yourself...straight into oblivion."

With that, Ryan threw in more energy from his palm. Reynard felt his shield begin to disintegrate. Shit! In a final attempt to save himself, he conjured an earthquake that ripped the very ground under his feet. He then began to levitate, still attached to that piece of earth. But he came crushing back down with a force that left him dazed. At that point, his protective shield had completely disintegrated. But the wolfman kept doing what he was doing.

Reynard felt completely drained. It was almost as if all his very life force had been sapped out. He felt powerless and useless. He was mortal. He was nothing. But there was still hope. All he had to do was get inside that house. Then he could restore his powers, he thought desperately. Reynard began to move tentatively towards the wolfman.

"Please Ryan..." Reynard pleaded. He suddenly looked ten times more than the age he appeared to be when Ryan first laid eyes on him. "Surely you won't hurt an ordinary mortal. Besides, I'm your father. Surely that should mean something to you..." If only he could... "Please. At least allow an old man to lie in his bed and rest."

The wolfman closed both palms, instantly cutting off the energy dust. His hoodie had turned to ash. He raised his head to look at the fortress. 'Is anyone in there?' He asked his pack on their mind-link.

'Lip is in there.' Stan responded. 'Ah, here he is.' The pack turned in unison to look at their alpha. 'Did you find anyone?' Stan asked. A few of the warlocks had managed to escape. The number wasn't significant though.

'No.' Phillip looked devastated. Everyone assumed he was devastated because he'd lost his men. Well, he had more to be distraught about.

The wolfman stared at the first person he'd seen as a friend in Stanwood Pack. He didn't have to be a genius to know why Phillip looked so devastated. He'd seen the look in his eyes when he'd stopped the wolves from tearing apart that boy. Ryan reduced his link to only Phillip.

'You will find him.' The wolfman assured his mate's best pal. 'Don't worry. When the time is right, he'll come back to you.'

Phillip could only nod. 'Can we touch it now?' He asked with a deep sigh.

'Allow me.' Ryan said. To everyone, he instructed; 'Stay back.' Then with a wave of his hand, a great inferno engulfed the fortress.

"No, no, no..." Reynard wailed, crumbling to the ground. "Not my home, no..."

But Ryan ignored the wailing man and headed towards the prisoners. Both Reynard's confining steel and his protective shield had disappeared, leaving the people wet but relieved. Ryan wanted to take a closer look to assure himself that they were alright. Apart from about six people that had lost their lives as a result of Reynard's channeling, the rest looked okay. They all looked at him with grateful eyes, with some voicing out their gratitude.