Thorns & Wildflowers

Silvermoon City, the Old Town.

Rain battered the eaves, slamming into the pitted asphalt below. Puddles choked on swelling, waterlogged trash.

Cain crouched by the convenience store's back door, his fingers scavenging through a dumpster. His pads brushed against plastic-half a box of expired rice balls. The packaging bloomed with condensation, bloated and tight. He ripped one open and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed twice, tasting nothing.

Footsteps splashed at the mouth of the alley. Pitter-patter. Heavy, frantic, and multiple.

"Over there!"

Four kids charged into the alley. The leader held up a phone, squinting as the screen's glare washed over his face.

"Got him!" the leader squeaked, his voice piercing the gloom. "Right around here-I told you he'd be here!"

The phone lunged closer. Cain turned his head, presenting only the back of his skull to the lens.

"The ears! Did you catch the ears?"

"Got 'em, got 'em! They're silver-gray!"

The leader barked rapidly into the microphone, "You seeing this, chat? The half-wolf from the Old Town-the one everyone's been talking about online? This is him!"

A shorter boy chimed in, "I heard he used to belong to some mega-corporation family before they went under."

"The Greymane Group, yeah. A werewolf family."

"Then what's he doing digging through trash?"

The kids snickered. Someone kicked the dumpster, making the sheet metal hum.

Cain didn't move. He stuffed the second rice ball into his mouth, chewing slowly.

A third strike-a stone flew through the air, striking his shoulder with a dull thud. He didn't react.

The second stone caught him on the temple. It stung. A warm trickle crept down the bridge of his nose, the copper tang of blood instantly shearing through the stench of the rain.

The third stone-

A hand snatched it out of the air.

Cain looked up.

A girl stood before him. She was thin-painfully so-her collarbone jutting sharply against the slack collar of her oversized hoodie. Her soaked, flaxen hair clung to her cheeks. The sleeves swallowed her hands, leaving only the tips of her fingers exposed. She gripped the stone, the veins on the back of her hand taut and blue.

She glared at the kids.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The leader scanned her up and down. "None of your business."

The girl didn't answer. Instead, she knelt, her hand diving deep into her hoodie pocket. After a moment of rummaging, she pulled out a plastic bag containing half a loaf of bread, its crust speckled with green mold.

She held the bag out to him.

"Here. Eat."

Cain stared at her. Right then, her stomach growled. It was a loud, hollow rumble that echoed off the alley walls.

"I'm not that hungry," she said softly. Her stomach immediately growled again.

Cain made no move to take it. His fingers merely twitched.

The leader thrust the phone forward, filming. "Oh, look at that! Someone's actually feeding the mongrel!"

Laughter erupted again.

Then, a sound echoed from the far end of the alley.

It wasn't the chaotic scuffle of children. It was the synchronized, heavy thud of combat boots crushing the puddles-measured, unhurried, and numerous.

Cain bolted upright. His legs were numb from crouching too long.

He grabbed the girl and yanked her behind him. Her wrist was so frail that his fingers wrapped around it twice.

"Run."

"Huh?"

"Run!"

The kids heard it too. The leader glanced back, nearly dropping his phone. "Shit-"

They spun on their heels and fled, kicking up sheets of muddy water. Their frantic footsteps scrambled away and quickly vanished into the night.

But the approach from the other end didn't break cadence. It drew closer.

Thirty men flooded into the alley, packing it wall-to-wall. They wore black tactical gear, their chests embroidered with a red axe. The rain slicked their uniforms, stretching the fabric taut against the heavy contours of muscle beneath. The man out front slipped off his sunglasses. A jagged scar tore from his brow down to his jawline, the healed, pale flesh gleaming in the wet dark.

"Cain Greymane," he rumbled, baring his teeth in a grin. "It's been five years."

Cain shielded the girl behind his back. His spine locked straight, his shoulders dropping low and forward.

"She has nothing to do with this."

"Take them both," the leader commanded, waving a dismissive hand without looking at her.

The girl peeked out from behind Cain's shoulder, rain dripping from her bangs.

"Are you here to kidnap him?"

The leader looked down at her. Her chin barely reached his chest.

"Scram, little girl, if you want to keep breathing."

The girl didn't move. Instead, she stepped out from behind Cain's shadow, walking right up to the line of thirty men. Her soaked hoodie clung to her frame, her shoulder blades propping up the wet fabric like two sharp ridges.

"No."

The leader's brow furrowed.

"He's mine."

The air seemed to freeze. The roar of the storm suddenly intensified, pelting the ground in a frantic, deafening rhythm.

The leader stared at her for three seconds, then burst into a roar of laughter. The thirty men joined in, their mockery echoing off the brick walls in a deafening, vibrating din.

"Yours? You keep him? With what-that half-loaf of moldy bread?"

The girl didn't smile.

She lifted her eyes.

Cain felt it first. The ground-not a sound, not a tremor-but a sudden, violent upheaval from deep within the earth.

Thorns erupted from the underworld.

They didn't tear through the soil. They burst through the cracks in the asphalt, tore out from the mortar of the walls, and shattered the iron grates of the storm drains.

The vines were black as forged iron, each spike as long as a finger, tipped in a dull, reflective crimson.

Thirty thorns.

Thirty throats.

Three seconds.

No one fired a shot. No one screamed. There was only the wet, heavy sound of constriction-flesh yielding, bone snapping.

Blood sprayed into the air, instantly swept away by the deluge as it swirled down the storm drains.

The corpses were dragged down into the subterranean dark. The ruptured earth sealed itself shut, smooth and unbroken, as if nothing had ever happened. Only the metallic tang of iron, thick against the wet scent of the rain, lingered in the air.

Cain stood frozen, his back drenched in cold sweat.

The girl turned around.

She looked at him with pale green eyes, her whites clear and calm. Rain rolled off her chin, and as she shook her head, a few droplets sprayed across his arm.

"Um..." She scratched her cheek, her small nails framing flushed, red knuckles. "I didn't mean to do that."

Cain found no words.

"Can you run away with me?" She tilted her head. "I'm not very good with directions."

Cain looked at her, then down at the flattened, mold-spotted bread in his hand.

Without a word, he shoved it into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.

"...Let's go."

The girl smiled, her pale lips curving upward.

He turned and headed into the depths of the alley. The girl followed, stepping exactly where he stepped, her boots disturbing the ripples in the puddles.

"What's your name?"

"..."

"Should I just call you 'Hey'?"

"..."

"Hey, where are we going?"

"..."

"Hey, are you hungry? I still have half a-"

She fumbled in her pocket, her fingers swirling through empty fabric.

"Oh. I gave you all the bread."

Cain didn't look back. But his silver-gray ears swiveled backward, locking onto the direction of her voice, their tips twitching imperceptibly.

The girl didn't notice.

She sighed, breaking into a small jog to keep pace. Her shoes were waterlogged, squelching loudly with every step she took.

Behind them, near the back door of the convenience store.

The corpses dragged into the earth began to sprout.

White wildflowers blossomed from their mouths. Their petals, thin and fragile, were pierced by the driving rain, swaying gently in the dark.

No one saw them.

The rain slackened into a fine drizzle, sticky and needle-sharp against the skin.

Cain took the lead. His stride remained steady, measured-squelch, squelch, squelch-as his boots broke the surface of the puddles.

The girl trailed close behind.

They covered some distance before she called out, "Where are we going?"

He offered no reply.

They walked a bit further. "Hey, where are we going?"

"...Ahead."

"Where is 'ahead'?"

He left it unanswered. Eve sighed, her footsteps quickening to close the gap.

In less than an hour, she had asked the exact same question nearly twenty times.

Cain accelerated. The footsteps behind him quickened in tandem. He slowed down; she slackened her pace to match.

He snapped to a sudden halt. An instant later, something collided with his back. Her forehead struck his shoulder blade with a dull thud.

Eve climbed back two paces, her hand instantly flying to her face, capping a red-rimmed nose with her fingers.

"Is your back made of iron?"

Cain turned to look at her. Rain trickled down her chin. Her hoodie had shifted askew, baring a pale shoulder.

"Can you watch where you're walking?"

"I am watching. I'm watching you."

"...Watch the path."

"Aren't you the path?"

He chose not to reply. Turning back around, his tail flicked once, scattering droplets of water across her face.

Eve wiped her eyes and broke into a light jog to keep pace, her waterlogged shoes squelching loudly with every step.

"My name is Eve," she offered. "No last name."

Cain remained silent.

"And you?"

"...Cain."

"Cain what?"

He didn't say. Eve didn't press, shoving her hands deep into her pockets as she fell into step beside him.

They walked on through the waning storm until the only sound left was the rhythm of their own breathing.

A heavy tightness began to constrict Cain's chest. A localized heat began to writhe beneath his skin, mimicking the crawl of living things beneath his flesh.

"There's something on your chest."

Cain's stride faltered.

Eve looked up at him, tilting her head.

"It's dark red. It stretches from your left shoulder all the way down to your right ribs. Like thorn marks."

He turned his gaze toward her, his eyes unblinking despite the rain. "You can't see that."

"I can," she insisted, tracing a line across her own chest to demonstrate. "From here, to here. It's moving."

A searing spike of heat flared in Cain's chest. Then came the pain-not the superficial sting of a burn, but a deep, boring ache. It dug past his skin, carving through muscle to grate against the marrow of his bones.

His posture broke. He doubled over, bracing a hand against a nearby wall. The rough brick bit into his palm.

His breath grew ragged.

Eve closed the distance. She extended her hand but held it just short of making contact.

"Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came-only a low, guttural growl that tore from his chest, entirely beyond his control.

The transformation was taking hold. His fingernails darkened, lengthening into sharp, lethal talons. His jaw shifted. His canines lengthened, pushing past his lips.

His center of gravity shifted forward.

Eve knelt beside him. She reached out, pressing her thin palm flat against his chest. Her hand was cold, slick with rain.

Then, she began to sing.

It possessed no recognizable melody. The syllables bled into one another, ancient and resonant. Each note carried an immense weight, sinking deep into his bones.

Slowly, the burning in Cain's chest began to recede. It retreated from the marrow, pulled back through the muscle to the surface of his skin, and finally vanished into the air.

His breathing stabilized. The talons retracted into normal fingernails; his canines shrank back behind his lips.

He looked up.

Eve's eyes were closed, her brow furrowed as her lips continued to move. She seemed entirely unaware of what she was doing.

As the final syllable faded, her eyes fluttered open. She blinked twice.

"Did I just... sing?"

Cain stared at her. Rain slid from her matted hair, dripping down.

"You didn't know?"

"No," she said, scratching her cheek. "It just happens sometimes. My body moves on its own."

Cain stood up, his legs trembling slightly. He leaned against the wall for a brief moment to steady himself.

Eve rose with him, slapping the wet mud from her knees.

"My mom told me I've been like this since I was a kid," she muttered. "She called it a gift. But I always thought-"

She cut herself off, casting a brief glance in his direction. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Cain pushed his damp hair back from his forehead. "Let's move. There's an abandoned temple ahead. We can take shelter there."

He walked onward, and Eve followed.

The rain continued to die down. In the distance, a dark, blocky silhouette rose against the hillside.

Eve snapped a dry branch underfoot. Crack.

"That thing that just happened... does it happen often?"

"Occasionally."

"Does it hurt?"

He didn't answer right away. They took a few more steps before he spoke.

"Yes," he said.

Eve fell silent.

They reached the abandoned temple.

The doorframe hung askew. Only half of the wooden door remained on its hinges; the other half lay rotting on the ground, blanketed by a thick layer of moss. Several patches of the roof were missing, allowing the rain to stream through the gaps like miniature waterfalls.

Cain pushed the remaining door open. The rusted hinges groaned in protest.

The interior was cramped. Dust lay thick over every surface, cobwebs anchored the corners. In the center of the room stood a stone statue. It rose just over a man's height, its surface heavily eroded by decades of dampness. It depicted a woman, her long hair cascading down her back, her hands cupped around a bundle of flowers.

Eve walked over and stood before the effigy, tilting her head back to look up at it.

"Who is she?"

"No idea."

Cain dropped to a crouch, scanning the floor. Someone had been here before-dry ash from an old fire lingered in a corner.

"She looks a little like..." Eve tilted her head farther. "...me?"

Cain turned to look at her. She stood perfectly adjacent to the statue, her head tilted at the exact same angle.

The statue's face was ruined by time, its features erased. Yet the curve of the jawline-

He stood up and approached her. He looked at the statue. He looked at Eve.

"What?" she asked, blinking.

"...Nothing."

"Your face doesn't look like nothing."

"Stay inside. I'll take the night watch."

He walked to the entrance, propping his back against the doorframe while facing the dark expanse outside. As the rain thinned, the lights of Silvermoon City visible in the distance coalesced into faint, yellow clusters.

Eve selected a corner of the temple, swept away a patch of dust with her foot, and sat down.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"No."

"Then I'm staying awake too."

"Sleep."

"I'm not tired."

Her stomach swallowed the silence with another loud growl.

Cain reached into his coat and produced a strip of dried meat-hard, leathery, and frosted with a layer of salt curing. He walked over and held it out to her.

Eve took it and snapped it cleanly in two. She popped one half into her mouth and offered the rest back to him.

"Half each."

"I'm not hungry."

"Your stomach growled earlier too."

Cain looked down at her. She was already working on her piece, her cheek bulging to one side.

He took the remaining half and shoved it into his mouth. It was tough, requiring enough effort to make his jaw ache.

Eve leaned her back against the wall, stretching her legs out. She pulled her sleeves down until they covered her hands entirely.

"My mom used to do that. Whenever we had something good, she'd always split it down the middle."

Cain chewed the jerky in silence.

"She passed away last winter," Eve continued, her voice dropping lower. "Sick. I didn't have any medicine."

Cain looked at her. She was staring up at the breach in the roof, watching the rain strike the floorboards-drip, drop, drip, drop.

"What about you? Your family?"

"...Dead."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

A heavy quiet settled between them. There was only the sound of the leaking roof.

"Cain."

"Yeah."

"When that thing was happening to you earlier... what were you afraid of?"

Cain turned his head. Her eyes caught the dim light of the room-pale green, like leaves washed clean by rain.

"I wasn't afraid."

"Your hands were shaking."

He looked down at his lap. His fingers were trembling-a slight, persistent vibration he couldn't arrest. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I was afraid of hurting you," he said.

Eve watched him steady himself. "You wouldn't."

Cain offered no response. His tail lay flat against the dirt floor.

A low rumble of thunder rolled over the clouds in the distance. Eve closed her eyes, her breathing gradually slowing into the deep rhythm of sleep.

Cain stood up and walked back to the threshold.

The rain was nearly over. The sharp tang of wet earth mingled with the ancient, musty scent of the temple.

He glanced back over his shoulder. Eve was asleep against the wall, her head lolling to one side, her lips slightly parted. The stone statue loomed directly behind her. Their silhouettes were nearly identical.

Cain turned back to face the night.

Water dripped from the eaves, one bead at a time, striking the earth with a rhythmic tap, tap, tap.

Inside the temple, upon the stone bundle of flowers held fast in the statue's grip, a single petal bore a faint, glistening trace of moisture.

It wasn't rainwater.

The dawn had not yet broken.

The rain had stopped, but a heavy mist rolled low against the earth, cascading down the hillside.

Cain sat propped against the doorframe, his knees pulled tight, his arms resting over them. He hadn't slept a wink. His ears stood erect, swiveling every few moments to sweep the damp stillness.

Eve remained huddled in the corner. Her oversized hoodie was pulled low, her face buried deep in the collar, her breathing light and agonizingly slow.

Then, a sound sheared through the fog. It wasn't the wind. It was the crunch of gravel underfoot-many of them-moving up the slope. Crunch, crunch. Loose stones skittered downward, clicking against one another in the dark.

Cain bolted upright, his hand bracing against the doorframe until his knuckles turned stark white.

"Eve."

She didn't stir.

"Eve."

The hood slipped, exposing half her face, her eyes still pressed shut.

"We have company. A lot of them."

Her eyes snapped open.

Outside, the marching ceased. A voice tore through the mist-thick, guttural, rasping like sandpaper against rusted iron.

"Cain Greymane. Step out."

Cain didn't move. He took a heavy sidestep, blocking the threshold, burying Eve completely in his shadow.

A man materialized from the fog. He stood two meters tall, a mountain of scarred flesh bound tight in black tactical gear. A jagged line of torn skin split his face from brow to jaw, the healed meat gleaming in the damp dark. His left eye was a dead thing-a sphere of gray glass that remained perfectly fixed-while his right eye narrowed, scanning the temple entrance.

Behind him, more figures emerged in a slow, relentless tide, packing the hillside wall-to-wall. Black combat suits. The red axe insignia. Some shouldered heavy rifles; others gripped long blades. A few coiled iron chains around their forearms, the links clinking sharply against their thighs as they shifted.

The mist swirled violently around their boots.

Eve peeked out from behind Cain's shoulder, counted the perimeter, and pulled back.

"How many?"

"Three hundred."

"...Can we outrun them?"

"No."

Cain didn't look back. His voice was flat.

"I'll buy you time. You take the rear exit. Head due east, keep walking, there's a town-"

"I'm not leaving."

"Eve-"

"I'm not leaving," she said softly. "I told you. You're mine. I won't leave you behind."

Cain turned his head to look at her.

She had stood up straight. Her hoodie was crumpled, her flaxen hair a tangled mess, and her left cheek bore the red impression of the floorboards from sleep. Yet she looked right back at him, unblinking.

Cain's Adam's apple bobbed. He turned back to face the hill.

Outside, the scarred commander advanced two paces, tilting his head to study them. His glass eye remained dead, but his organic eye raked over the pair.

"Well? Have you two settled it? Who goes first?"

Eve stepped out from behind Cain's shadow, walking straight to the threshold. She stood square on the wooden beam, nearly two heads shorter than the giant before her. Pulling up her oversized sleeves, she exposed her thin wrists.

"Hey, mister."

The Butcher looked down.

"If you let us leave, I won't have to kill you."

The mist hung thick in the air, swirling lazily along the mud.

The Butcher stared down at her. His gray glass eye was motionless; his right eye twitched slightly.

"...Heh."

A laugh tore from his throat-a short, ugly sound, like a man choking on water.

Behind him, three hundred mercenaries joined in. The mockery rolled down the hillside, echoing off the ridge, layering into a deafening, vibrating din that made the very earth beneath their boots tremble.

The Butcher wiped the corner of his eye. "Little girl, do you have any idea who I am?"

"I do," Eve said flatly. "A dead man."

The laughter died instantly.

The grass moved. It wasn't the wind. Across the entire hillside, the wild blades flattened against the earth simultaneously, driven down by an immense force rising from deep within the earth.

Thick vines erupted from the soil. They were nothing like the small briars from the night before-these were as thick as a man's arm, black as forged iron, and bristling with dark red barbs the size of fingers, their tips catching the dim dawn light. They burst through the earth at the Butcher's boots and at the feet of every single man behind him.

Three hundred thorns. They locked onto three hundred pairs of wrists, ankles, and throats, coiling around them in a single, fluid heartbeat.

The Butcher looked down at his ankles. The vines constricted, the barbs biting deep into his flesh. Crimson instantly leaked over the leather of his boots, dripping into the mud-splat, splat.

He opened his mouth to roar-but a vine whipped upward, sealing his jaws shut.

Three hundred men. Three hundred vines. No one could move; no one could scream. A rifle slipped from paralyzed fingers, hitting the ground with a dull thud. A heavy iron chain slid loose, clattering once before falling silent.

The thorns kept tightening. Bones were forced down, snapping and cracking under the weight. Blood seeped through the cracks of the coiling vines, tracing down their necks and pooling into their collars.

Eve stood on the threshold. Her eyes had turned entirely gold-not a shimmering sheen, but a solid, terrifying metal, like two coins burned red-hot in a forge. No pupils. No whites. A blinding radiance bled from her sockets, illuminating her entire face.

Her flaxen hair drifted upward, though there was no breeze.

The vines gave a final, violent wrench. Three hundred corpses were dragged down into the subterranean dark. The ruptured earth sealed itself shut behind them, smooth and unbroken, like ripples smoothing out on the surface of a pond. The flattened grass sprang back upright, leaving not a single trace behind.

The mist continued to roll.

Eve remained on the threshold. The solid gold began to drain from her eyes, receding like water into sand, patches of darkness fading away until the pale green flooded back from the edges.

She blinked several times, then lowered her gaze to her hands. She turned them over, examining her palms, then her knuckles. There was mud on her skin, packed tight beneath her nails.

"Did I... kill people again?"

Cain found no words.

She turned her head to look at him, tilting it slightly. "We need to run."

Cain stared at her. The morning mist washed around her form, her hoodie soaked through on one side, her hair standing up in wild, tangled strands.

She reached out and grabbed his wrist. Her fingers were cold, her grip light.

"Let's go."

Cain let himself be pulled, stepping over the threshold and into the thick mire.

She didn't run fast. Her waterlogged shoes squelched loudly with every step, forcing thick mud up through the seams to splatter against his pant legs.

Tethered to her grip, Cain looked back.

Through the shifting fog, the silhouette of the abandoned temple was already dissolving. The crooked doorframe, the rotting door, the missing tiles on the roof-and inside, the stone statue still stood. Its hands held the bundle of flowers, its blind face turned precisely toward the path they were taking.

For a fraction of a second, the mist parted.

The statue's face-the exact curve of the jaw, the slope of the brow, the tilt of the shoulders.

It was identical to hers.

Cain snapped his gaze forward. Eve ran ahead of him, never looking back. Her shoulders rose and fell in a frantic rhythm, her breathing heavy and labored.

"Did you see it?" Cain asked.

"See what?" she called out without turning around.

"The stone statue in the temple."

"What about it?"

"The face."

"What about the face?"

"...Nothing."

She didn't press him. Her boot caught the edge of a jagged rock, and she stumbled, her knee buckling before she forced herself upright again. As she steadied herself, her hand slipped from his wrist, sliding down into his palm, her fingers locking tightly with his.

Her palm was slick and wet, a mixture of cold sweat and rain.

Cain didn't pull away.

Together, they broke through the base of the hill as the mist closed in behind them, swallowing the temple entirely.

Eve's hand remained anchored in his. Her fingers were thin, her knuckles prominent against his skin, and through her palm, he could feel her pulse. It was hammering, wild and fast.

Cain said nothing. Eve said nothing.

They kept running.