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“Brian,” she whispered, her voice contorted and deep.
“Go!” I yelled, my skin turning black as I called on my form.
I was like no other creature in this realm. My skin started to turn as dark as a starless sky, and soon, even my tattoos could no longer be seen. My claws, equally black and as pointy as my father's, elongated, as did my fangs.
My pointy ears laid flat against my head, and my shirt ripped from my body as I grew in size. I was nothing compared to a wolf's final form, but still, I added a few inches nonetheless.
When the whites of my eyes turned black, like my mother's, while my pupils remained red, like my father’s, I advanced on another centaur that was running into camp. My speed was twice that of my father’s, and in seconds, I'd taken down three infected before they could attack anyone.
Mom was running around, gathering everyone together, but the centaurs suddenly stopped coming, and instead, the earth began to tremble. Everyone paused, unsure of what was happening, and I bent down to lay a hand on the ground.
Dad walked to my side, black veins covering the entirety of his face.
When the grassroots started to turn red, I recoiled, as did Dad. We watched as the ground turned crimson, as if drenched in blood. But what filled me with dread was the liquid that started seeping out of the ground.
Still, everyone was too confused and stunned to speak, watching as the liquid formed a puddle.
A wolf stepped towards it, his eyes narrowed, but my mother's yell for him to get back was too late. The liquid lunged at him, latching onto his face. He fell to the ground, screaming as some of it crawled into his mouth, nose, and eyes. Then everyone started running once more, their panicked screams filling the dark forest.
I remained where I stood, watching as the wolf’s eyes turned red. He eventually got to his feet, foaming at the mouth as he shifted. More patches of the virus started appearing, crawling rapidly across the ground to any wolf standing nearby.
“We need to call the gods!” Mom yelled.
I shook my head, watching as once more, our peace was interrupted. We’d seen red patches on the ground before and known it was the virus. But this was something else. It was a living thing now, seeking out hosts.
I couldn’t fight this. None of us could.
“The gods can’t stop this,” I murmured, stepping back. “We need Natalie.”
