THE ISLAND WOLF - EPISODE 30

Dakar was a strong man and knew how to put his emotions in check, if Dojo did not take over. And to break down in front of a young girl, and cry like a vulnerable child, then the pain was indescribable. He struggled for years to remember his parents faces, or even their names. But he couldn’t. When he finally remembered, he knew how much his mother sacrificed for him and he couldn’t wait to go back home to her. After Avril asked him if he succeeded, that ugly memory flooded him. How she was holding the bowl with the complete crystal ball, and his father standing beside him. His mother dropped the bowl and ordered him to strike immediately. But he hesitated and showed stupidity. Dojo possessed him and he fell with a scream, his insides burned and he got a rage that wasn’t his. And with one ugly glance at a shocked woman, he pulled out his claws and stabbed her in the chest. The look she gave him was still in his mind. She looked terribly hurt.

“This is not you, Dakar. Fight this”, she whispered and he ripped her heart out. His father pulled out his sword immediately. Dakar fell to the floor and screamed again. He felt his bones snapping and getting bigger. That was the biggest form he had ever possessed. Everything seemed smaller, including his father.

“No, no, no. I can’t stay here”, he muttered and grabbed his bag that he had returned with from his journey. He broke out of the house and ran off despite the calls of his father. He however did not make it outside his mother’s Chambers, because he found himself on the island. His father saw him disappear into thin air.

Sitting on the cold marble floor of Avril’s room, with her hugging his bare skin and muttering soothing words, he realized that he would have killed her a lot of times. But he didn’t even when Dojo had the chance. He controlled himself the way he couldn’t with his mother.
“It’s all right. I’m here for you, Dakar. You won’t feel all that pain anymore. I won’t let you go through it alone”, she said, soothingly.
He looked at her eyes and pulled her away from him. He looked her over and over again.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Avril, I didn’t hurt you”, he said.
“I know. It wasn’t you, it was that demon. That Dojo”, she rasped and tried to hug him again but he shifted back.

“No, don’t come close. He hates you. Loathes you. He wants you dead like he did my mother”.
“Then why hasn’t he done that? I’ve been here for how long?”
“Because… Because I’m strong enough to stop him from getting any further”, he said, but those words were more to himself than to her. His mother had said similar words to him.
“And do you think you’re going to lose any of that strength? Dakar, you’re stronger than this thing. You can fight it. You can resist it. I’m here to help you do that”, she stated with so much determination, that Dakar truly got strengthened. He smiled at her and pulled her closer. He held her face and found out she also cried. He wiped the small tears with his thumbs and hugged her to himself. He finally understood what his mother had said to him.

***
It was training day again. This time, it was not arrows and bows. But swords. Dakar could teach it perfectly already since he was back in human form. They got sticks and sharpened them into swords. Dakar told Avril it was just for the first few weeks of training, so she wouldn’t hurt herself. They had cleared a circular patch in the forest and were ready to use it to train. Tall trees stood around them, and Dakar marked them all with red paint.

Avril grabbed a wooden sword upon Dakar’s instruction, and stood in the middle of the patch. Dakar was behind a tree changing. He took too much time and trust Avril, she began to run words at him.
“Just because you have long hair doesn’t make you a woman, you know”, she stated and he chuckled deeply behind the big tree.
“Yeah? What do you have against my hair, girl?” he asked.
“You spend too much time on it. I don’t even take care of my hair that much”, she answered.
“This hair is one of the reasons I am irresistible to the women in my pack. When we go for a pack run in our wolf form and we shift back to humans at the lake, I usually go for a swim. And when I come up the surface, they gawk at me. My wet hair on my skin gets them drooling”, he announced to Avril’s contempt.
“Great! Now he’s The Aquaman”, she mumbled sarcastically.
“What is The Aquaman?”, he asked and came out from behind the tree. His hair was in a bun and two curly strands fell from the left temple and right temple. He looked like those ancient Chinese or Korean men, except that he was way too muscular and huge. His wolf’s head shone on his shoulder blade, like he repolished the ink. And he was wearing his traditional warrior skirt, the one Avril found hilariously ridiculous.

“How do I look?”, he asked as he smirked at her.
“Too tensed. You should lose some weight and look less heavy”, she stated and turned away from him. She exhaled through her mouth and blew air on her face with her palm.
“Man, that was hot!” she exclaimed in her mind. Because if she were to whisper that, he would hear for sure.

“All right, I’ll lose some weight. I also I’m beginning to feel too heavy. I heard modern women prefer a man who’s not too muscular. Someone who can be handsome and cute at the same time”, Dakar said and she turned immediately.
“Where did you hear that from?”, she asked with a frown.
“Knarti”, he answered.
“That is just crap! You’re perfect. Gives me the Roman Reigns vibes”, she cooed and smiled sheepishly.
“What is a Roman Reigns?” he asked and she groaned frustratingly.
“Do you even know anybody? You’re so backward!”

He laughed and grabbed a wooden sword.
“Those guys did not exist in my time”, he said and held the sword to his face, checking it out.
“Wait, I thought you mentioned having electricity and a fridge. How? Weren’t you living like medieval people?”
“It was 1900s not the 1800s. In fact, we had advanced technology even before normal humans. Do you know that some crooked humans come to use for innovations? Then they take the credit and become heroes”.

“Dakar!!!!!!”, Avril screamed and he flinched.
“What is it?”, he asked and walked to her.
“Snake! A snake!”, she screamed and began to run away. Dakar used his wolf senses to glance back and he saw a green climbing vine being swinging in the wind.
“No, it’s not a snake!”, he called after her but she was already fleeing far. He sighed and ran swiftly after her. He was too fast that he actually bumped into her and she tripped. She would have fallen on a dead tree if he had not turned her around and fallen on his back, with her on him.
“It wasn’t a snake”, he gritted as he raised his head to look at her.
“This is awkward”, she whispered.
“Yes, seeing a plant as a snake is awkward”.
“No, not that. You’re holding me in all the wrong places, Dakar”, she stated and his eyes widened as he found out where his hands were.
“Oh My God”, he muttered.