Haken: A Capacity for Violence Part 10

This story features forge master Haken and takes place between the events of 'Werewolves: Haven Rising' and 'Werewolves 3: Evolution's End.' 

[If you haven't read part 9, click on the Collections tab and select 'Werewolves' to find the previous chapter of this story.]

Haken nearly choked with emotion when he followed Alice out through the heavy security door and into a grassy quad nestled between four thick concrete walls. The air was fresh and clear, tickling his nose with a faint scent of pine–a true, natural smell, not the offensively artificial variety that humans so often sprayed to make bad smells even worse. He felt warmth on his skin and when he looked up at the open sky his eyes began to water.

"The sun," he whispered under his breath. "Gods, I missed the sun." Every last ray of sunshine was a gift from the gods and Haken wanted to soak each drop of its radiance into his pores and hold it there for eternity.  

Each wall's surface had been painted with lush scenery in exquisitely vibrant colors, simulating the look of an open woodland. The scene wasn't going to fool anyone, but if he only looked through his peripheral vision, he could pretend he was out in the forest, and for now that was enough to keep him happy. He wandered to the center of the green space, feeling his naked feet sink slightly into the topsoil as the grass tickled his toes–any regret he had felt over shredding his shoes when he transformed flew away and he reveled in his feeling of closeness with the Earth.

He watched as Alice approached a stand that held a variety of practice melee weapons. She took up a wooden pole almost as long as she was tall and whirled it in her hands–he marveled as it blurred so fast he could barely follow it. The flurry of motion was almost hypnotic as she wove in and out of combat stances with the fluid grace of a dancer. It was like something out of a movie; certainly not anything Haken had seen with his own eyes. Most werewolves–himself included–focused on combat using brute force and claws, but this was something else. This was an art. 

As suddenly as she'd begun, Alice came to an abrupt halt, hand swept out to the side with the end of the staff an inch off the ground. She looked up at him and grinned, chest heaving as she panted with the exertion of her impromptu display.

Haken clapped his hands together, legitimately impressed. "I'm not sure how well that would keep you alive in a firefight," he said, "but gods, that was some beautiful form and discipline." He felt heat rise to his cheeks when he had a second to dwell on his choice of words. Alice didn't look flustered in the least. If anything, she seemed genuinely appreciative of his praise.

"Want to learn?" she asked. "They let us have quite a variety of toys here, and by variety I mean everything's made of wood and there's no projectile weapons. Still, it's a pretty good way to keep up your physical discipline without the risk of killing anyone you're sparring with."

"Or one of the guards." Haken pointed to a platform above the quad's concrete barrier where two armed men stood at attention, watching their every move. "They don't usually care much about our lives, but they won't put their own in harm's way."

Alice shrugged and whipped the pole around in her hands for a few seconds. "Goes without saying. You should pick a weapon and try taking me on." She leaned on her staff. "I bet there's one that calls out to you more than the others."

Haken stepped over to the weapons rack and eyed its contents dubiously. Wooden knives, swords, and poles in several varieties were held up top, but what interested him most was down below. He chuckled as he picked up a surprisingly hefty club, tapered at the end for an easy grip with a wide striking surface sure to knock anyone for a loop if they were unfortunate enough to be struck by a solid blow. "How about this?" he asked as he took a test swing through the open air. "I think I can work with this. What do you think?"

"I think Hal owes me a beer." Alice pointed up at one of the guards. "We had a bet about the first weapon you'd take. He thought you'd go with the axe, but I was 'team club' all the way."

Haken glared at the guard, but the man only stared back at him impassively. "You pulling my chain with that?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Alice reached out with her staff and rapped it against the end of his club.

"I think you're trying to get a rise out of me."

"It working?"

He didn't bother answering with words, instead lashing out with a wide swing of the club. Alice ducked, narrowly avoiding his blow before slicing upward with her pole and catching Haken on the back of the head before he could arrest the momentum of his swing and come around on her again.

"Too slow, big man!" she crowed, stepping out of range as Haken brought the club back, whiffing through the air. 

"S'all relative," he grunted. "Slow wins over flashy all the time." He lashed out with a well-timed upward thrust that thwacked Alice on the right shoulder. She rolled with the strike, limiting the damage, but he could tell that her hiss of pain was real. "I've watched wolves who could move so fast you could barely see 'em," he said as he took a step back before she could counter attack. "They'd land a dozen weak blows on their opponent, but they folded after the first hard punch to the jaw. Tagging someone first isn't a win if you're not the one still standing at the end of the fight."

"That's some pretty big talk for someone who can barely land a hit on me," Alice said as she leaned in and tried to sweep a leg out from under him.

Haken anticipated the move and blocked her leg with the butt of his club. He didn't reply to her taunt–if she wanted to take this fight seriously, then he'd indulge her. He reached down and wrapped a meaty hand around her ankle after it rebounded off his weapon and threw her sideways, expecting her to land in a heap on the grass. Instead she twisted in his grip, bringing her other leg around and slamming a foot into his neck. He staggered back, coughing and seeing red. He could barely breathe!

Alice got back to her feet easily after his grip slackened. "I thought you'd be better than thi–"

Haken dropped the club and leaped at the infuriating werewolf, driving her to the ground under him with his unexpected attack. He held her down with one hand while he knocked the pole out of her grip with the other. She struggled, trying to roll out from beneath him, but his well-muscled human form was almost double her weight and without leverage she found herself completely at his mercy.

"Peace," she cried out. "It was only a spar!"

"You still think I'm nothing but a brute?" he asked as she wriggled.

"Who says I don't like a brute once in a while?"

Haken leaned back and pulled his hands away, suddenly acutely aware of his positioning. He swallowed hard. Of all the responses she could have given, that was the last he would have expected.