Down The River

Down The River

The Royal yacht of Eleftheria sails unopposed on the great river of Nist; It was a great marvel of nature that split apart all six nations on the continent of Bastion, some natives even called it the longest river in the world due to its length extending over 7000 km.

Despite the technological advancement of the Bastion continent in developing nuclear warheads and various types of battleships, its people still had not yet developed a means of traveling in the air yet, hence their preferred method of transportation by ships.

Meanwhile, in the sitting room of a royal yacht, a handsome young man around the age of twenty-five with dark hair, greenish-blue eyes, and a hawk-like nose sat in front of a desk with various letters scattered on it. The crown prince of Eleftheria, Orion Darkwood looks lost in his thoughts as his pair of striking greenish-blue eyes sift through his correspondences from the other ambassadors of the four nations (Victoris, Amicitia, Libeirio, Adlino). 

The contents of their letters were a reassurance to the crown prince that they would be there in time for the summit to revisit the terms of the Treaty of Metus which had them enslaved to the nation of Modena after the Paramount War over 500 years ago.

“Finally! My five years of hard work is paying off and the others are also taking a united stand to end this farce of a rule that has been imposed on us for five centuries.”

A knock sounded on the door jolting him out of his thoughts as an old voice came through.

“Your Highness, I just received a telegram addressed to you from His Royal Majesty.”

“Come in, Weber.” The prince instructed.

After the Prince gave that instruction, an old man in his late fifties came in through the door. His medium build made him look a bit wizened due to old age and anyone who saw him would think that he was defenseless but he was anything but such. His impeccable suit brought out his aura of seriousness and sense of duty as his sharp eyes roamed around the room before making his way to the Prince to hand over the letter.

“Here you go sir.”- The elderly butler handed the missive to the prince.

He took the letter with a hint of annoyance and said to the old man. “It seems Father is still of the opinion that his words will have any effect on me now after I have gotten this far.”

“He is very concerned about you, your Highness, and only wants to see you safe and out of harm's way like any father would.” the valet replied.

“Well, it's too late for that.”

Opening the letter, the prince read aloud the following words.

“My beloved son, I do not understand why you have chosen to ignore my words of advice to you. But I must continue to remind you as your father that this path you have chosen to walk shall have dire consequences for us and the nation. Please, I beg you. Cease and return home!”

He placed down the letter and hissed, “I do not understand what he is afraid of. At this point, the top brass of Modena wouldn't even dare to harm me as that would make them the very thing I have said they are.

“Though I understand how cutthroat they can be. But if they are to maintain their hypocritical image as a fair nation to the rest of the world then it is the best course of action for them not to make me a martyr for my cause. We have been suffocated enough, it's time to crawl out of their tyrannical shadow and let the light shine on us as well.

”We are perfectly capable of ruling ourselves and don't need a bully looking over our shoulder and telling us what to do. They have plundered us for 500 years and almost drained our lands dry with their self-serving policies. With all these, I thought that my father would agree with my views that the need for self-rule has never been greater.”

“If I may be so bold, your Highness. Perhaps, his Royal Majesty believes that the time is not yet right for a revolution, and looking at what led to the Paramount war perhaps a good thing that none of the nations possess military power.

“The five nations have been united against a common enemy. And even If they regain autonomy, what's to say that the same thing will not occur again or perhaps one of the five nations will develop an ambition to rule over all like the current one.”

“I understand what you mean, Weber” Orion admitted. “But you are as well familiar with the saying, ‘Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’

“And with the bitter history of humiliating rule by Modena that we have all experienced. Which of the remaining four including us would try to conquer the continent again after seeing the resentment and hatred it could bring upon them?”

“I do understand what the saying implies, your Highness. But sometimes humans can be forgetful creatures and besides you underestimate the temptation of power to men. No nation can resist the allure of taking over another nation's resources if they smell weakness in their strength. It's the way of nature. Survival of the fittest! The strong devour the weak.”

“Well, that is archaic.” Orion objected, “We should lend a hand to those who cannot protect or help themselves. We should do things for the good of all regardless if they are strong or weak.”

Listening to these naive words of his master. Weber no longer said anything and just nodded in agreement before he excused himself.

“Perhaps, Your Highness. Is there anything I can get you before you go to bed?”

“Nothing more, Weber. I shall stay awake longer to look at these other reports”

“Then may I take my leave, Your Highness.”

“Yes, you may. Good night, Weber.”

“Good night, Your Highness.”

…..

Inside one of the hammocks on the royal yacht of Eleftheria. One particular royal crewman thought to himself, “It's time to get to work.” Then made his way to the main electrical switchboard located in the main engine room.

After there, this mysterious man transformed into 9 ft tall humanoid wolf-like creature and then used its long and sharp claws to damage the main switchboard which short-circuited the electrical power of the ship, thus putting the ship in a blackout and cutting off all means to call for help. Of this sudden change, the over 200 royal crew wondered what could be the problem.

“What's happening?”

Why has the ship suddenly lost power?”

“Get a lamp and send someone to check the engine room!” Ordered the ship's captain.

…

Back in the prince's sitting room.

“What could have happened to the electrical power?” Orion thought something was strange. It was rare for such a thing to happen after all since the royal yacht's maintenance was always handled meticulously before they set off on any journey.

At this moment, Weber made his way to the Prince's quarters. “Your Highness, I have spoken with the captain. He suspects it may be a technical malfunction. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about!”

“Oh! I see.” said the prince.

Meanwhile, the men sent into the engine room have already been killed by the giant wolflike creature. Before an alarm could even be raised, most of the crew found themselves with a slit throat.

Moving unimpeded in the dark, it took out the crew of the ship with an unusual speed, stealth, and precision characteristic of a natural killing machine. Before anyone knew what was happening, they were already killed.

But no matter how fast and powerful the creature was, it could not move at the speed of light. And it didn't take long before the blood of the murdered crew members began to permeate the salty sea air and for the remaining survivors to begin to suspect that something was wrong.

“Hmmm. Do you smell that?”

“Yeah. Has a somewhat metallic scent like blood.”

“Where could it be coming from?”

 

At this moment, the battle-hardened and experienced soldiers like the Royal yacht's captain who had a keen sense of danger began to have an uneasy feeling that something was strange.

“Such a heavy smell of blood.” muttered the captain, “One only comes across this peculiar smell on the feel of battle. Everyone be on your guard. And send some men to protect the crown prince.”

Alas, their alertness gave them no advantage over such a terrifying force of nature. However, what further raised the awareness of everyone on the yacht was a result of the creature's assault on a group of crewmen who were suddenly attacked and one out of them managed to shoot his pistol though it had hit nothing but air. This action can have just been the instincts of a soldier who was frightened reacting to an unanticipated attack since he couldn't even see his attacker.

The sound of a firearm going off in the still night didn't help but raise the tension of the crew who were already suspicious of the heavy smell of blood.

“What was that?”

“Did you hear that sound?”

“Sounded like a gunshot!”

That gunshot may have confirmed their suspicions that something was wrong. Nevertheless, the bright moonlit night was painted red with the blood of the crew, no one seemed to understand what was hunting or which hell it had crawled out from. It slaughtered the ship's crew without hesitation or remorse. 

Over 150 men were already murdered within minutes. Whatever efforts were made to fight back were futile, as it appears no man-made weapons could stop it in its tracks, that is if they even saw their assailant clearly before they died.

From the moment of transformation to picking on the crew either in groups of twos or fours. The werewolf assassin swiftly made its way to the lower decks, while making short work of Orion Darkwood's bodyguards along the way. And finally, after leaving behind a bloody carnage, the giant wolflike creature reached the crown prince's quarters.