I trudged behind the wereheretic bound by invisible threads of magic. We had been walking for about an hour and she wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. Normally, I wouldn’t have minded but every time I took a step, a sharp pang of pain seared through me.

My gaze shifted to the young boy accompanying us. He had been walking at a constant pace the entire time; exactly two steps behind the wereheretic. I wondered if he was bound by magic just like me. He had to be. Why would anyone in the right state of mind follow a sadist maniac?

My steps must have faltered because I felt a sharp tug causing me to stagger forward. I stumbled but another wisp of magic stabilized me before I hit the ground. The wereheretic slowed down to match my steps.

With a condescending sideward glance, she snapped, “Can’t you walk faster? At this pace, it will be days before we reach our destination.”

I glared right back at her and crossed my arms over my chest, “I am wounded and not as powerful as you. What did you expect? If you think that taking me along is cumbersome, just leave me here.”

She sighed, her gaze drifting toward my bandaged abdomen. Blood had seeped through the coarse fabric staining it red. She motioned to the young boy, “Carry him.”

My eyes bulged out. This woman was totally crazy. What made her think that a frail, young boy could carry me? Drawing in a deep breath, I said in a resigned voice, “There is no need to torture him, I will try to walk faster.”

She spun to face me so fast that a gasp left my lips. Her eyebrows twitched in amusement, “What makes you think I am torturing him?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” I pointed towards the young boy, “Look at him and then look at me. How in the world can he carry twice his weight?”

She smiled mysteriously and patted my back, “He can carry even thrice his weight...” Her gaze turned softer as they drifted to the boy who was standing beside me, “Dreki is the only one in the world I would never hurt.”

He grabbed my hands and slung them around his neck. With a swift jostle, he managed to propel me to his back. To my astonishment, he walked with great ease even with me on his back. His steps were fluid and evenly matched with the wereheretic.

Gosh! I was tired of using the term ‘Wereheretic’ even in my thoughts. Clearing my throat, I tried to strike up a conversation with her, “I know that everyone refers to you by the term ‘Wereheretic.’ But, you must have a normal name too; like he has, Dreki.”

She shrugged with nonchalance, “What if I do? What if I don’t? It is none of your business.”

“Oh, come on. It is just a name. Do you have to be so stingy?”

Her gaze turned towards me, her piercing gaze boring into mine. My mouth went dry and I gulped. “If you don’t want to tell me, it is totally fine,” I stuttered. “I will just call you Hera; like a short for ‘Hellraiser.”

She raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment. We continued to walk in silence, passing by a section of wild oak trees, then came the bushy wilderness. The forest thinned and we soon reached a lake.

“Umm…mmm…mmm,” I wanted to ask where we were headed but only muffled sounds left my lips. She had probably used magic to silence me. Damn that stupid witch! How was I going to find out anything about her if I couldn’t even speak?

After walking for about an hour more, we entered something that looked like an ancient human town. The boy set me on the ground and we continued walking at a slower pace. I stole a glance at him to find that he hadn’t even broken a sweat; his breathing seemed even too.

“What are you?” The question left my lips before I could even think. I noted with delight that the effect of the spell had worn out and I could speak again.

Dreki smiled, a pure innocent one. Looking at Hera, he confessed, “I am her slave.”

Hera stopped walking, waiting for him to catch up. She ruffled his hair and something shifted in her eyes, “How many times have I told you not to say that?”

His smile widened, “I am only telling the truth. I owe my life to you….”

Hera’s gaze widened and she motioned to me. At this, the boy hung his head as if apologizing. She caressed his head, “Let us just continue walking.”

One thing was sure, Dreki meant something to Hera; or maybe it was just an act on her part. I had to observe longer to be sure.

The dusk had fallen, casting a strange orange glow over the town. The old, medieval-style buildings that flanked the road had started putting up lanterns to light up the surroundings.

I wouldn’t say that the streets were crowded but it was desolate either. We would run into a couple or so every few minutes. They all seemed to be in a haste; panic and fear evident on their faces.

Hera’s eyes suddenly lit up as if she had sensed something. She grabbed my arm and dragged me at a faster pace, “We must hurry or it will be gone.”

I was going to ask her more about it when a thunderous growl shook the ground. My gaze landed on a public park at the end of the market. There in the middle of the park was the largest werewolf I had seen. It was twice the size of normal ones. What alarmed me was its eyes; they were ruby red. This could mean only one thing, the wolf had lost its cognition. It could no longer think rationally. It was purely driven by its thirst for violence and blood.

It stomped through the crowds; sending people flying in all directions.

Once in a while, it lowered its body and grabbed someone before throwing him away. Men, women, and children scurried to the exit as fast as they could. They tried to open the gate but it wouldn’t open.

Hera drew closer and whispered, “Are you waiting for your superhero complex to kick in, or?”

It was then it dawned on me. Hera had brought me here to test me. She wanted to know if I had lied to her. A deep sense of dread gripped my heart as my gaze drifted from her to the monster slaughtering people. If I jumped into the crowd to save the people, I would die. If I didn’t, it would be proven that I had lied to Hera and she would kill me.

Today, I understood the meaning of the statement ‘Stuck between the devil and the deep sea’. I stood there frozen; too terrified to move.

1212/5000

She grabbed my hair and spun me around; her eyes dancing with menace, “I can see that your complex has still not kicked in. A little bit of motivation might help.”

With a wave of her hand, she sent me slamming against the gate. It opened up with a creak and I stumbled inside. Screeches and piercing shouts echoed in the playground as everyone tried to get out of the playground.

I was shoved and tossed around like a play doll by the crowd until I finally managed to grab the edge of a slide and ducked under it. Shielded from the frenzied crowd, I watched Hera as she jumped right in front of the monster. It towered over her by a good ten meters but she didn’t seem perturbed by its size.

She looked at it right in the eyes, her gaze fixed on his movements. The monster lunged at her but she dodged it swiftly. The monster let out a fierce growl as he struck again and again. She dodged each of its movements like liquid electricity.

A young boy was huddled close to the swing, his face pallid with fear. He was looking across at his mother who was trying to get past the monster. Every time she tried to get past him, the beast shifted his position or struck at something, causing her to step back.

After some time, the boy overcame his fear and tried to get past the monster. His mother shook her head vehemently, telling him to stay in his place. But, it was already too late. The monster had noticed the small boy. ‘

He lowered himself from his waist and grabbed the boy by his neck; holding him aloft in the air. The boy’s legs dangled in the air as he shouted and cried helplessly.

There was a flash of blue light and the next moment the beast was lying on the ground. His grip became loose and the little boy slid down. He sat there, staring ahead with a blank expression; his mind probably reeling with whatever had happened.

Hera’s gaze landed on me and her expression turned cold. I knew I had failed terribly. If I didn’t do anything, I would soon be lying in the place of the beast. Thinking quickly, I stepped out of my hiding spot and praised her openly, “You are not as bad as you portray yourself to be Hera. If you were evil, you wouldn’t have saved the boy’s life.

She cracked her knuckles; her gaze taking on a sinister edge, “I am every bit of evil you can imagine…. I just wanted to test my skills.” Her expression turned condescending, “I wanted to play with the beast for longer but you managed to catch my eye and I ended up killing him quickly.”

She stepped closer and grabbed me by my collar, drawing me closer until we were inches apart, “It will be more fun to play with someone having a superhero complex.’

I gulped but looked straight into her eyes. Despite having little faith in her, I managed to keep my voice even, “I know you won’t hurt me without any reason.”

She snorted and shook her head incredulously, “Just because, I apparently saved that boy, right?” Her gaze drifted to the woman who was holding her child to her bosom now. Their eyes met and something passed between them; I don’t know what it was but it sounded like a silent plea.

Her eyes had become cold; dark like the bottomless hell when she looked at me again. In a voice icier than the arctic, she said, “You think that I will spare your life just because I saved that boy, right?”

I bobbed my head; I don’t know if it was out of fear, belief, or just so I could give some response. Her gaze held mine for a long moment before she spoke in a dangerously low voice, “Something tells me that I have ruined my image by saving that little twit. I will have to fix that.”

She released me abruptly and walked towards the boy with slow steps. She knelt in front of him and grabbed him by his collar. Tears rolled down the woman’s eyes and she mouthed, “Please.”

The next thing I know the boy was lying on the ground, lifeless. She killed him so quickly that I couldn’t even see what she did. My jaws hung open and my eyes widened in horror.

She dusted her hands as if she had just touched something gross as she walked towards me, “Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, let us discuss what to do with you.”

I gulped; this time out of pure terror. I had run out of ideas to save myself. With each step she took towards me, I took two steps backward. At some point, I stumbled. This made me lose whatever hold I had on my composure and I almost shouted, “This is unfair, you know! You can’t judge me by the way I behaved. All of this was too sudden and… I…” I clutched my abdomen, “I am so badly wounded. I couldn’t fight that beast even if I wanted to…. I… I would have just added to the chaos.”

“I think it is indeed unfair to judge him based on this incident; given that he is wounded,” Dreki spoke in my favor. I swear I could have kissed him. My gaze however landed on Hera, who still seemed to be thinking.

Seconds ticked by at an excruciatingly slow pace. With each tick, my heartbeat became more and more erratic. Just when I thought my heart would fail, she finally spoke up, “We will test him again after Seven days; once he has recovered. Until then, he will be traveling with us.”

Her gaze lingered on me for a moment before she climbed over a dead body and walked out of the park. A deep and eerie silence fell over the park strewn with dead bodies. It was a gruesome sight with blood and half-torn carcasses. It was difficult to differentiate the people killed by the beast from the ones killed in the stampede; not that it mattered.

What mattered was that they were gone. They had just come here to have a good time with their family and now they were dead. They were all fucking dead and I did absolutely nothing.

A deep sense of guilt and regret gripped my heart. With a weighed-down heart and laden steps, I trudged out of the park.

I tried to see the silver lining of this dark cloud; reminding myself that my objective had been achieved. I was getting a chance to stay with Hera for another seven days. But for some reason, I couldn’t feel the joy. It was like the darkness of the night had engulfed me in its blanket just like the moonless night….

I sat up with a start, panting heavily. The scene from the playground lingered in my eyes for a couple of moments before fading. My hand flew to my chest as a gust of air escaped my lips; deflating the tension.

Hera had decided to spend the night at a tavern and I was alone in my room. My gaze drifted to the open window. It was still dark. I crossed my legs and straightened my back. I took long deep breaths; recollecting and composing my thoughts.

I had fared terribly the previous day, getting all flustered and jeopardizing the mission. I had to do better if I wanted to achieve my objective. I had seven days to find Hera’s weakness; seven days before she would pretend to test me and probably kill me.

I had to retain my focus, attaining one objective at a time. The first step was to obtain her blood for research. I had to do that before I left the town. My mind veered to the conversation I had with Melinda about this.

I had been completely boggled at the thought of collecting her blood, “This is impossible!” I had snapped, almost shouting. “Do you think, the wereheretic will just hold out her hand and say, ‘Here love, stick in your syringe and take all the blood you want?”

“We are not that unreasonable, Justin. We don’t need a full syringe. Even a drop will do, just so we can analyze her DNA.”

Another sigh left my lips and I massaged my neck. I had to find a way to make this work first thing in the morning.

With a little meditation and self-talk, I managed to gather my thoughts; forcing myself to stash all the traumatic memories in the recess of my mind.

This part of the plan played out surprisingly well. I pretended to stagger with weakness while heading toward the restaurant. Using this opportunity to accidentally bump into her, I stabbed her hard with a needle.

She winced and tried to pull away reflexively but I held on, sneakily holding the vial close to her skin. I managed to collect only three drops of blood before her wound healed.

I had just slid the vial into my pocket when I was thrown back by the impact of her magic. I bumped into a nearby table, crushing it under my weight. The waiters came rushing and helped me to my feet.

She inspected her arm but there was nothing; given that her wound had already healed. We sat at another table and she ordered a selection of dishes. The savory aroma of the delicious food made my stomach rumble.

I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing a sandwich from the table. Hera raised her eyebrows, “Who told you that you could eat with us?”

My eyes widened and the sandwich slipped from my fingers, “Why am I here then? You could have as well left me in my room….”

Her eyes narrowed and the table trembled, cutlery and all, “Don’t forget your place, wolf boy. You are my prisoner!”

I gulped and lowered my gaze, “I am sorry…. I… I will ask permission before doing anything next time.”

“Hmm… Now, look at me.” Her lips lifted in a smirk, drawing my attention to them. I zoned out for a moment but I didn’t let myself get drawn this time.

“You are here to watch us eat…” Her smirk grew wider at my pained expression. “I want to see you squirm and twist as you watch us eat the most delicious food in the world. Your stomach will grunt and growl but you won’t even get a bite….”

Water filled my mouth and a different kind of ache gripped me, “Are you going to starve me for seven days?”

She shrugged, “I might… It depends on my mood.”

I rested my head on my chin as I watched her put pieces of delicious food into her mouth. She took her time; stopping to moan in pleasure and describing how each dish tasted with great precision. Dreki supported her wholeheartedly; pointing out the flavors or descriptions she missed sometimes.

When I volunteered for this mission, I had hardened myself to go through all sorts of torture but this was not one of them. You have no idea how tormenting it is to feel those pangs of hunger gnaw at your insides while you are forced to watch someone else enjoy their meal; that too when you haven’t eaten in over twenty-four hours.

I was completely crazed with hunger by the time she finished eating. But, I held on to those threads of composure with everything. I had already obtained the blood. Now, I just needed to pass it on to Melinda. I couldn’t screw it up just because I was tantalized with food.

It was a relief to finally walked out of the restaurant. The cool breeze slapped across my face. I noticed that the streets were more desolate as compared to yesterday. Most of the shops were closed except for one or two here and there. When we were about to pass by Zesta’s candy store, I asked, “Gigantic elephants are doing samba in my stomach. Can I at least buy a candy?” I held my head as I continued in a weaker voice, “I am afraid I will faint if I don’t get anything.”

She stopped walking and turned to face me; her expression bemused, “You still eat candy?”

I shrugged and averted my eyes indignantly, “It is not my fault that humans make such delicious candy. I can’t stop myself.”

She giggled; mellow, sweet laughter followed. “Go ahead, buy your candies, Wolf Pup.”

My face flushed and I rushed to the candy store. I knew this was embarrassing but we couldn’t come up with a better plan to relay messages. It had to be something so stupid, so silly that Hera wouldn’t suspect.

Walking over to the counter, I stole a glance at Hera and Dreki. They had made no move to follow me. I tapped the counter three times and placed a gold coin on the glass counter.

The shopkeeper’s eyes widened for a moment but he regained composure pretty quickly. He handed me two large eclairs. I opened the one with the red wrapper and scrawled quickly. ‘Point 1’ and added a tick mark beside it. Then I wrapped the sweet again before handing it over to the shopkeeper with the vial. With a curt nod, he handed me a pouch of colorful candies.

I pocketed the other eclair quickly and rushed back. Hera’s arms were crossed over her chest and she was tapping her foot impatiently, “What took you so long?”

“I am so sorry to keep you both waiting.” I gave them my silliest grin as I held up the pouch, “There were candies in so many colors that I got all flustered. In the end, I bought them all….”

She shook her head but didn’t comment, “Let us just continue walking. We need to be somewhere before dusk.”

“Are we going on a killing spree again?”

“Maybe…”

My face turned pale and I stuttered, “B…But, you promised to give me time to recover before testing me again….”

“I promised to not make you fight monsters before you recovered. I will still be testing you in other ways.”

A sigh of resignation left my lips. This was exactly what I needed. I took out a yellow colored candy and held it in front of her, “Will you spare me if I give you a candy?”

She kept quiet for a long time, probably too stunned to react. I kept holding the candy in her general direction as I trotted along to keep pace with her. After a few moments, she grunted and pushed my hand away, “You think you can bribe me with candy?”

“I had to try.” Shrugging, I continued, “You should try it even if you don’t want to get bribed; the lemon sherbets are absolutely the best.”

“If you are so hell-bent on giving the candy to someone, I will take it,” Dreki said, whisking the sweet out of my hand. He popped it into his mouth before I could even react. Hera gave him a warning glare but he just smiled as if saying it is okay.

I popped a blueberry-flavored one into my mouth. I had taken my first step in achieving the second point. I had to normalize eating candies and then convince Hera to try them out as well. That way, we could try out different drugs on her.

We took the rocky road towards the east. Hera kept prodding me to walk faster but my legs just wouldn’t move quicker. I was still wounded and I hadn’t eaten anything either. The scorching sun wasn’t making it any better. My face had turned completely red and I was drenched in sweat.

Reaching a shady tree, I grabbed a trunk and slid to the ground; refusing obstinately to take another step. I had expected wisps of magic to clutch my legs and drag me but nothing of that sort happened. I raised my head and looked up to find that Hera wasn’t there.

Dang! Hera had just left at some point in the journey and I didn’t even realize it. That is how exhausted I was. My brain was so roasted that I couldn’t even curse myself for being careless.

Dreki smiled at me kindly and sat beside me; stretching his legs just the way I had. He looked me in the eyes, “We return every act of kindness tenfold.” His smile widened as he held out a package, “You gave me your candy. So, I will give you my lunch.”

I was so hungry that I didn’t think of anything else. I ripped off the package and gobbled the sandwich in two minutes flat. By the time I realized that something was wrong, it was already too late.

My vision blurred and my head started spinning. The last thing I remember is my head dashing against the strong trunk of the tree.