It's been about an hour or so since these guys took me and Alora, we've been driving through the swamp for a while and it's been a quiet ride the whole way through, neither of us wanting to say anything to these guys. Another thirty minutes go by and the driver speaks up
"We're here"
I look out the window and see a huge house, looks like those old plantation houses, definitely not comforting. We drive down the long driveway and soon we're being pushed into the house by these guys and led downstairs into a room where a big Viking looking guy is sitting at a desk. One of his goons walks up and whispers something to him and he looks up at us with a serious look and stands up out of his chair, he has to be well over six feet. he walks to the front and sits at the edge of his desk, crossing his arms just looking at us, soon he opens his mouth.
"I thought we had a deal Alora, you stay out of my way and we stay out of yours"
Wait he knows her, what is going on?
"One of your little pups tried to attack him, I wasn't going to let him die"
He looks over to me and looks me up and down
"Hmmm and who are you?"
"I'm Jay, I'm just here on vacation"
"Hmmmmph I see… I'm Bastian, the leader of the rougarou coven. First let me apologize for Aurelia's actions, she should've known better we don't attack innocents"
Alora has a confused look on her face and chimes in
"Wait… you don't know do you?"
"About?"
"The bounty"
"I know of no bounty, but if someone placed a bounty on his head then he must be of some importance…. And I think you know why Alora"
I look to Alora
"What is he talking about?"
"Nothing don't listen to him"
Bastian raises an eyebrow
"Jay, your new friend knows more than she's letting on. She always has her ear to the streets and she was hired to protect you. So why don't you tell him… before i do"
Alora stays quiet and just looks down at the floor. Bastian clicks his tongue and shakes his head as he stands up
"What a shame"
He looks towards me and walks over, hulking over me
"You don't know a lot about your heritage I presume"
"Im just a normal guy that was born and raised in California"
"Is that what you think?"
"Obviously"
Bastian chuckles a little
"Long ago my ancestors fought for this land, but they had some assistance from some people. These people were known as the protectors of the Great Plains, supernatural native warriors with great powers, strength and speed, they were also able to control the thunderbird. You are a descendant of those warriors"
"Me?!? I mean I knew I was native from my grandma but she never told me about this"
"It's true, someone out there must feel threatened by you and put the bounty on your head"
"Why though I ain't gonna do shit!"
"They must know something, now we don't know what's going on but just taking one look at you… you definitely ain't a threat to anyone"
"Excuse me?"
"If I were you, I would just give up and accept my fate you ain't going to last"
Alora steps in
"That's why I'm here to protect him"
Bastian laughs
"You?!? Should I also tell him about how you let your last client die on your watch"
"That was a mistake…."
"Right"
He looks at me and smirks
"You guys ain't going anywhere anyways, now that I know about this bounty… I'm thinking about claiming it"
He grabs me by my shirt, lifting me up and pushing me against the wall as Alora is restrained by two men. He looks me in the eye and starts sniffing the air and smiles revealing his canines.
"Hmmm seems you have no fear, at least you got that from your ancestors"
"Why would I be scared? Like you said I'm dead either way"
Bastian laughs
"How about we make this interesting?"
"What?"
"At the back of the compound we have a fighting pit where we train and have our underground fights. You're going to fight Aurelia, I'm sure you want some type of retribution against her"
"Doesn't sound fair, she's a werewolf, she has the advantage"
"She won't be allowed to transform, even fight. You win, we'll let you go."
"And if I lose"
"Both you and your little protector here will be killed"
Before I can answer Alora yells out
"Don't do it!!"
I take a deep breath and look into Bastians eyes
"Deal"
He lets me go and I fall to the floor
"I like your spirit, it's going to be unfortunate watching you die"
I'm then led to the back of the compound and taken down into the pit where I'm waiting for the fight against Aurelia. A few minutes go by and Aurelia jumps down into the pit, her coven is there watching and cheering her on as the fight is getting ready to start. Aurelia just stares at me and gets close enough for me to hear her
"Why are you doing this? We both know how this is going to end"
"What, you afraid I could beat you without your little wolf powers?"
After I say that Aurelia starts beating my ass, yeah i probably shouldn't have said that. I try to fight back but even without her transforming she's still too fast and strong for a normal person like me. All I can hear is the others yelling and cheering as I'm getting tossed around the pit, I'm laying on my back as Aurelia stands over me ready to land the final blow but she hesitates and just stares at me. Bastian shouts out
"What are you waiting for? Finish him already!"
Aurelia looks up at him and then back at me
"I can't do it"
Aurelia then taps on the ground and quits the match. I get to my feet and look up, Bastian looks pissed off at what he just saw but then shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"A deal is a deal I guess. Jay, you and Alora are free to leave"
Bastian then looks over to Aurelia
"You…. You can join them, there's no room for someone as weak as you in this coven"
Aurelia looks down in defeat and walks away. Me and Alora are then taken to the front gates and let free. I turn around and shout out
"Wait we have to walk all the way back?!?"
I'm ignored as everyone from the coven heads back into the house.
"Fucking assholes"
Alora looks at me and smiles
"At least we're still alive, well you're about half alive"
"Ehhh just a few bruises and cuts, I'll be alright"
"Well I guess we better get to walking, it'll probably take us half the day to get back to the French quarter"
"Grrrrreaaaat"
a long walk through the swamps, what could go wrong?