The Empty by Thom Reese Read Free Book Online

protest, shaking his head furiously and hammering his palms in a staccato drum roll against the grainy floorboards. But the boy repeated the process, only this time, knowing what was coming, Dolnaraq dodged the throw and the water splashed uselessly onto Dolnaraq’s sleeping area. Another quick splash to the right torso and Dolnaraq charged the bars of his cage causing the entire structure to shudder and creak, though the bars remained true and Dolnaraq stumbled backward in renewed agony as the fourth cascade doused him in the face.
    The boy laughed and hopped about, pointing at Dolnaraq. But there came a voice from beyond the youth. “Boy, what do you do?” said the little man with the twinkling eyes. “Leave this one be.”
    “Wilhelm said it must be bathed,” protested the youth.
    “So you decided to make a sport of it?” shot the other. “Besides, this poor creature is still injured. You increase the chance of infection if you dampen the wound.”
    Dolnaraq comprehended only a portion of this exchange, but he vaguely understood that the older human was chastising the younger for his treatment of Dolnaraq. How small this man’s mind must be. Did he treat Dolnaraq any better by being party to his capture and imprisonment?
    This small dirty man then made his way to the cage. “My apologies to you, my young friend. The youth bares the stupidity of a poor upbringing. Perhaps I can get you a towel.”
    But the man had wandered too close to the cage and with too little caution. Charging the iron bars, Dolnaraq shot his right arm between these, slashing furiously at the man and ripping his left cheek. Dolnaraq did not have claws such as Tresset did. His sustaining species was the fox, and thus he had dark curved nails at the ends of his fingers, not talons. But these were enough to slice the flesh, enough to wound and rip. The man stumbled away from the cage with a yelp.
    Dolnaraq grinned at the injured man and eagerly licked droplets of blood from his fingers. The man glanced back, appalled, and then staggered away to tend to his wound.
    * * * *
     
    The night was horrifying.
    Dolnaraq’s cage was moved to a sawdust walkway lined with booths and mindless attractions. He had not noticed these before, but at the top of each side of the cage were rolled curtains which were now released to fall down before the bars, enclosing the confused reyaqc in near darkness. There was much commotion, hurrying about, shouts and curses as the crew rushed one way and then another in final preparation for, “the opening.” Whatever that was.
    Soon there were new sounds, new scents. Dozens upon dozens of unfamiliar humans crowded into the area—children hooting, females giggling, and men boasting and cursing. There was the strange sound of mechanical music warbling through the air. All the livestock became agitated. Dolnaraq could smell their heightened perspiration even in his shrouded pen. There were the pops of what seemed to be small guns, the creaking and protesting of machinery, and the smell of sweet foods wafted about the breeze. Two young males raced past, then paused, jabbering between themselves. One approached the cage, cautiously lifting the corner of the drape to peek inside. There was a shout, the voice of the obese slit-eyed man. The two children raced away squealing with mirth as the man who’d shot and captured Dolnaraq cursed and spat.
    Soon a crowd collected near Dolnaraq’s cage. There were mutters and whispers, talk of a scam and a phony. Then the slit-eyed man hollered above the crowd, quieting them. “Tonight,” he said in a grand and husky voice. “Tonight, you will see something amazing, something raw, something few human eyes have ever beheld. You’ve heard rumors of lycanthropy, of men who turn to wolf. But you believe these to be folly, the foolish talk of the simpleminded. But, tonight! Tonight, you face the truth. For the first time ever, a true werewolf has been captured and caged. Tonight, for