The Bloodied Diamonds and the Blood Knight

Jamil

"Are you sure about that?" Beta Green asked, his face looking even more tired in the nightlight. We were sitting in his study, a small room that smelled like books and oil and books. I held back the urge to sigh as I stared out the window and saw the moon beaming brilliantly on the earth. For the umpteenth time, I wondered why wolves could not be like the celestial bodies. Forever fixed in the firmament, not having to worry about having to fall from their perch in the heavens. Come rain, come sunshine, come winter, come autumn, you could always bank on them to be there. If perhaps, it was too cloudy and the sun or moon did not show, you could be certain they would be there the next day. There was no guile or pretense with them, just simple duty. It was not so with wolves. Unlike the animals which we take most of our attributes from, we seem to be more interested in our individual gain than the good of the entire pack. We didn't care who got betrayed, hurt or even died so long as we could accomplish our purpose. I recalled what had happened several nights ago and could not help a shaky exhale. Perhaps, it was due to the human part of us? That specie tended to have a lot of flaws.

The Beta stared at me with a look that was just as heavy. If I felt this way, I couldn't even imagine the kind of conflict he must be having within him right now. His face seemed to have aged a couple of years within the past few minutes.

"Where is Ulo? Shouldn't he be here?" The Beta asked, his eyes traveling to the door like he expected Ulo to walk in at any moment.

The sigh escaped me as I recalled how we had parted ways earlier. I shuddered, wondering what was going on with him. Suddenly, the night seemed to have grown too cold. "He..." I started but the Beta waved me off. Obviously, he had too many things on his mind to focus on any single thing.

He lowered his eyes to the scroll that was spread before him and examined it closely before raising his head toward me again. "You are a warrior, one of the best warriors of the pack..." Usually, a praise like that would have gotten me all swollen up but with all that was going on, he might have as well told me that I smelt like rotten eggs. "In the absence of your father, I believe that you are more than capable which is why I would like for you to tell me how best you think we can handle this...ah, problem." With the way he said the word, 'problem,' I could see that he was avoiding mentioning the name. I couldn't blame him though. I had fought the person along with Ulo on the night of Jamil's poisoning yet, I could still not shake the chill whenever I recalled the memory. The last thing I wanted was to have to deal with that person again but it didn't seem like I had much choice. "Also!" He started, stroking his chin, his eyes heavy with thought. "You mentioned blood rubies? On that same night?"

"More like blood diamonds. But they were gone within a moment."

"Hmmm!" He grunted as he stroke his chin over and over, lost as he was in deep thought.

I frowned as thoughts that were uncalled for started to form into deductions. My eyes widened as the loose ends connected. "You think they are related?"

"Hmmm!" He grunted again as he removed his hand from his chin and started to trace the scroll again like that would somehow change its contents. I highly doubted that. He beckoned me over and pointed to a dark spot that looked like rather suspiciously like dried blood. "This is where it happened?"

I nodded grimly as I recalled something the person had referred to himself as. Something that had faded just about as soon as I heard it because I hadn't thought it meant much but now that I saw the mark, a growing suspicion started to form in the pit of my stomach. "He called himself the Blood knight."

"The Blood knight!" The Beta had always had a reputation of being able to keep his cool under pressure but right now, he totally blew the cover as he spat the word and jumped to his feet. He started to pace as he repeated the word like he couldn't believe it.

"You know him?" I asked, my heart filling up with equal parts of dread and eagerness.

The Beta stopped before me. He gulped in what looked like fear which made me cringe as I wondered who this person really was. "Yes, I know the Blood knight but I really hope you did not meet with him because if it turns out that it was him that you really met, then this Pack is in danger. Are you...are you sure you heard that name right?"

From what the Beta had just said, I desperately wished I could say no, like my memory would get a sudden gap fill and I would realize that I had gotten the name all wrong but no such luck. I pursed my lips and shook my head grimly.

"This is bad. He gave up so much to end this. And..." His tremble was so great that even I could see it. He reached out and clasped my arms. "Oh, gods!" He cried. "The diamonds."

"Beta Green?" I called, my shoulders starting to hurt from his firm grip. "Perhaps you could tell me more about this person? Perhaps a way to defeat him?"

For a moment, the Beta's protective face fell away completely and in its place was a man who was scared to death.