Seasons of War Episode 14- Sam I Am

Episode 14: Sam I Am

9th of Ferventis

Odd took a deep breath. Even through the city air, he could smell the changing seasons on the wind, but more importantly, he smelled candy. He wandered through the twisting city streets, taken in by the scent of sweetmeats that seemed to overpower everything else. While he was winding through the alleys, a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Odd Della-Robbia? Tell me that I'm hallucinating." The figure said. Odd stepped closer, and the figure walked closer to him. She was an elf, though she was taller than him, and her skin was dark. She had cropped black hair with two red streaks in the front and wore a short grey dress, the leather corset unlaced near her cleavage. "No, I'm not hallucinating. Driven here by the conflict in the west, huh?" Samantha Knight asked, crossing her arms.

"Sam!" Odd exclaimed, embracing his former lover. "Gods above! What are you doing here? I thought you were headed back to the Uncharted South."

Sam shrugged. "I was drawn in by the intoxicating aroma of stone and shemlen." She joked as she walked back into the shadows to lean on the wall. Odd followed her, and she smiled. "But I asked you first."

"My friends and I, we were chosen to be Heroes. We're on a quest to defeat Xana, the leader of the dark elves—the ones causing this 'conflict,' as you say." Odd crossed his arms. "Why are you just standing here in the dark? Don't you have a job or something?"

Sam laughed humorlessly. "This is my job, Odd. I turn tricks in the dark." She looked down into the darkness and her voice fell just a bit. "I hit a rough patch after I left Capital Lyoko." Looking back up, she smiled at her former lover and continued in a teasing, almost patronizing voice. "But look at you. You're some big-shot hero, eh? That must pay well."

"Less so than you might think," Odd said as he reached for his coin purse. "Here, Sam—let me help you. I have some gold here; I want you to have it."

Sam held up her hand. "No, I don't want or need your charity." She replied scornfully, and there was a moment of silence. Odd took this time to examine her face—Sam had 'earned' her vallaslin, as Aelita would say—her face was marked with a red sun between her eyebrows and two lines on both of her cheekbones. Her eyes had turned yellow during their separation, and Odd remembered the brown eyes she'd once had. He wondered if that was a side effect of the vallaslin, and, if it was, he wondered what color Aelita's eyes had been before she'd 'earned' her markings. "Although, Odd, maybe you could help me with something… personal."

"Of course, Sam. I owe you that, at least."

She waved him closer, and she whispered, "There's a man in the shadows of Kadic who owes me. I want you to help me get it."

Odd looked at her in confusion. "You want me to help you get money?" He asked. "I gave up stealing a long time ago."

"No, it isn't money, and even if it were, it isn't stealing if it belongs to me." Sam said, unable to look him in the eyes. "It's… information. On the location of a relic that can help me—both of us, even."

"What kind of relic?"

"It's a really old book. Like, I mean dating back hundreds of years, before the fall of Elvhenan." Sam explained, "It's really valuable. If I can get my paws on it, I'll be set up for life! The trouble is, this man seems to think that he needs it more." Odd seemed hesitant. "Please, Odd? Do it for me, for what we share."

Odd thought for a moment, and he sighed. "Fine. I'll help you get this relic, if that's what you need."

Sam smiled, her grin wolfish and borderline menacing. "Thank you so much, Odd! You won't regret this!" She said, hugging the Scout. "Meet me outside the Lucky Minstrel tonight. That's the brothel where I work. I'll slip away, and you and I can discuss the plan then."

---

He hadn't told anyone where he was going that evening—they would only try to stop him. The twisted streets of big cities always lead right to the dark part of town, where drug dealers and prostitutes waited like scavengers, so Odd had no trouble finding the whorehouse. It was dilapidated, with broken windows and a door falling off its hinges. Hanging over the entryway was a sign which looked to be a golden lute lying in a bed of roses, though time and weather had worn away the paint. Now it sort of looked like a bloody pig. The Scout leaned cautiously against the brick, as if just being near the place would give him a disease.

Sam snuck outside, and she'd exchanged her grey dress for a black leather cuirass and black pants. Attached to her belt were a whip and a serrated blade. She looked around and smiled when she saw Odd. "Oh, there you are. I didn't see you." She crossed her arms. "Are you ready?"

He stood up and nodded. "I'm ready. Where is this man?"

Sam looked over her shoulder, motioning to the manhole behind her. "He's lurking around in the sewers, like vermin do. Come on. He won't be there for long. Cover your nose." The duo walked over to the manhole cover, and they worked together to move it. Sam climbed down first, with Odd hesitantly following behind her. He closed the manhole as he did, and he was relieved to find an elevated walkway.

Nevertheless, he cringed at the smell. "Ugh, walking through the sewers to find some unknown mystery man. Why does this feel familiar?" Odd asked rhetorically, though the feeling of déjà vu was overpowering.

"It doesn't matter. We've got to find Mathias Burrel," Sam said, marching forward.

"Mathias Burrel? That's the man you're looking for?" Odd asked. Sam seemed so different than she had that morning. There was a stalking look to her gait, and now her fingers seemed more like claws.

She noticed that he had slowed his pace so she stopped and turned. Her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Crossing her arms she whispered urgently, "Odd, keep up. Mathias will only be here for a little while." She resumed her pace and Odd sped up his walk to keep up with her. "Yes, Mathias is the man who owes me. He isn't much older than that Nihonjin girl would be now—what was her name? Yuri?"

"Yumi," Odd corrected absentmindedly.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is he's down here and he has some explaining to do." After that they walked in silence the only sounds being the rushing of the sewage next to them and the rats that circled in the walls and on the walkways. Suddenly, Sam pointed to a man across the sewers holding a torch. "There's Mathias! Get him!" She shouted, sprinting after the figure with superhuman speed.

Odd was startled by the sudden change in pace, and he sprinted after her, though he was not half as fast. He kept to the walkways, trying his best to avoid getting his clothes dirty. He was sure he already smelled horrible.

When he caught up to Sam, Mathias—a man with dark hair and spectacles, like Jeremie's, in peasant's clothes—was wrapped in Sam's iron whip with her blade pressed against his throat. "Where is it? Tell me, you miserable mongrel!" She shouted.

Mathias whimpered. "Please, don't hurt me!"

Sam sliced off one of Mathias's fingers, and he screamed in pain. "There will be more where that came from if you don't start talking, Burrel!" She shouted, placing the blade against his throat again.

Odd pulled on Sam's shoulders. "Calm down, Sam! Give him a chance to talk or this whole venture was for nothing!" He reasoned. Sam glared at him, but she stood up, though she kept Mathias pinned to the ground with a lead-filled boot to his chest. Odd tried to reason with Mathias. "Listen, if you promised Sam you'd give her information, then it is your duty to relay it to her. Now, why don't you just tell us where this book is, and we'll be on our way."

"There's a hole in the ground—gah! It's really a hole in the ground, out on the plains! It's covered in grass and things but it's just at the bottom of a tree with the initials 'A.H' carved into it!" Mathias whimpered through the pain, struggling to break free of the whip and the boot. "Under the false panel in the treasure chest, there's a ladder that leads to the den. In the back room of the den, the Codex sits on a pedestal. Gah! No, I'm not being cryptic; those are really the instructions to get it! But beware, because the pack is guarding it, and you aren't the only one looking for it!" Mathias started crying, and Sam looked up at Odd.

"Well? Do you believe him?" Sam asked.

Odd shrugged. "He doesn't really have a reason to lie, does he?"

"Hmm. Very well," Sam said. She lifted her boot off of Mathias's chest, and she released him from the binds of the whip. "I had better not see your sorry face again, Burrel! You had better run!" She shouted as he scurried off into the darkness of the sewers. Smiling, she looked at Odd. "Well, just one more trip. Feel like helping me out one last time?"

"Of course I'll help you, Sam, but this book—Mathias called it the Codex. What is it? What does it do? Why is it so valuable?" Odd asked as Sam lead him to another manhole.

Sam hesitated to answer him. "There are too many magistrates for me to tell you anything here. I'll tell you when we get out of the city."

---

When Odd suggested they take Rorkal to get to the tree faster, Sam agreed hurriedly. Though when they reached the aravel, she seemed dreadfully disappointed to learn Rorkal was just a horse. "Oh, I thought he would be… more exciting." She sighed.

"I know, he's just a horse! That isn't as exciting as a griffon or something, but hey, what are you going to do?" Odd said.

"Odd, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be in bed?" A voice asked. Odd looked to find Aelita seated on top of the aravel, and it appeared that she was knitting scarves.

Flabbergasted, and a bit annoyed that any of his friends were going to find out what he was doing, he asked, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"The spirits are very active tonight. Whenever I try to sleep, they torment my dreams." Aelita replied. "But you are not subject to overactive spirits and I asked you first. Why are you not in bed, lethallin? And who is this?"

"Aelita, this is Sam. You remember, I told you about her." Odd crossed his arms. "I'm just helping her get some money. Is there a problem with this?"

"Not that I can think of," She answered, though she didn't sound confident. "Are you taking Rorkal out for a midnight stroll? I can't imagine he'll be too happy about being woken up, but it'll be good for him to get some exercise. We've been stationary for far too long."

Odd mounted the horse, and he helped Sam to mount as well. "Well, I'm glad to know that you approve." He said flatly.

"Be careful, Odd. The forest and the plains will be far more dangerous tonight than before." Aelita warned.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Let's go. We've got a lot of ground to cover before sunrise." She said, and Odd snapped the reigns. Rorkal galloped away from the forest surroundings of Kadic towards the open plains. "The Codex is the shortened title of the relic that I'm looking for. Its full title is the Codex of the Night Hunters, and it can heighten the abilities of any creature born of the night. That means vampires, goblins, some kinds of dragons, demons, and yes, werewolves.

"After we broke up, I came to Kadic, hoping to start a new life. But as you know, the wolf-blood calls to us wherever we are. Then I heard about the Codex, and I realized that if I had it, I would be able to control my transformations. I've been searching for it for about a year now." Sam explained, as they came to a small grove of trees.

Odd and Sam dismounted, and Odd instructed Rorkal to wait for them outside of the grove. Entering the grove, the duo examined the trunks of every tree in their path until Odd spotted one with 'A.H' carved into the bark. They searched the grass below, and Sam tore up the dirt to find a treasure chest hidden in the thicket. Opening it, the two worked together to remove the false bottom, which revealed a dark tunnel leading into the ground. Odd hesitated for a moment, holding his head in his hand. "Are you alright, Odd?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just… have a headache. It's gone now." Odd said, and he motioned to the tunnel. "Well? Ladies first."

Sam smiled and jumped inside, and Odd followed behind her. "Do you smell that? Wolf-kin. We aren't alone here…" She whispered. "It seems that Mathias was telling the truth."

The passage opened up to a large room with many beds and banners decorated with the phases of the moon. But this was not the most shocking thing. The shocking thing was the dozen dead people littering the room. Many were human, though at least two were dwarves and one was an elf. Every one of them smelled of wolf. "Dead werewolves. Are the magistrates to blame?" Odd asked.

"If the magistrates had been here, they'd have set the place on fire. Something else killed the wolf-kin, and recently." Sam said. They both jumped when they heard voices, two masculine and one feminine, but all were familiar to her. "Prepare your arrows. There's going to be a fight." Sam whispered.

The two hid on either side of the entrance to the back room. "Another cursed relic for our collection. The Archivist will be pleased, no doubt." One of the masculine voices said.

Odd drew an arrow and aimed for the person closest to the pedestal. All three wore thick red tunics with blue leggings. Over their clothes were salmon-colored scarves and cloaks, and their faces were obscured by blue masks and glass goggles. As the man reached to take the Codex, he could see the blue fingerless gloves. Odd released the primed arrow, striking the man in the forehead, knocking him back. The other man drew twin blades, and the woman drew a broadsword. Sam lept from her hiding place, using her whip to bring the woman down before pouncing on her like a lioness. The remaining man charged after Sam, but Odd grabbed his cloak and yanked him down. He tore at the man's face with his clawed gauntlets, and Sam appeared over Odd's shoulder to slit the man's throat.

"Let's hope there aren't any more of them. I don't hear anyone else." Sam said, wiping her blade on her leggings.

Odd stood. "Who were they? Their outfits were strange, and they spoke of the relic being cursed and of an Archivist."

She waved him off. "No one of consequence, and don't believe them when they say the relic is cursed. Curses don't exist." Sam stated in a confident tone. She approached the pedestal. "Damn, I've spent a whole year of my life searching for this, and finally, my hard work will pay off!" She exclaimed, tracing the cover of the Codex. It was leather, but it was worn and soaked in blood. It was locked shut, though the key lay beside it. Sam held the key in her hand, and she examined it. "I hope it feels like it should."

Odd looked back at the book, and he could've sworn he saw it move. "Gods above! Sam, that thing is evil!"

"What, just because you don't understand it, it automatically makes it evil? We spend every minute of our lives trying to hide who we really are, for fear that if it gets out we'll be killed! This book—this glorious relic—holds the secret to making the people of Lyoko accept us!" Sam declared as she placed the key in the lock and turned it. The book's pages flew open, and it looked like the nighttime sky blasted out of the pages, consuming Sam in its mystery. She screamed, but then she laughed, and Odd watched her warp through the starlight. Sam wasn't in control of her beast form—it was controlling her!

Odd struggled to get closer, yet something kept him at bay. He inched closer to the blackness that seemed to be spreading, and he could feel it try to wrap itself around his legs. He shook it off and searched for Sam in the darkness. "Sam, you have to fight this!"

Sam spoke, but her voice had changed. It was the voice of a wolf if a wolf could speak—a menacing growl, full of hunger and bloodlust. "I will not fight. I will submit to the will of the wolf, and so will you!" She reached out of the blackness and grabbed his shoulders with her paws, trying to pull him into the night. He struggled against her, kicking and screaming.

The blackness disappeared in a burst of white light, and Sam collapsed to the floor. Now Odd could see what the Codex had done to her—she was larger than any normal werewolf, now easily eight feet tall. Her arm muscles were bulging, and her teeth were the size of Odd's middle finger. Slowly, she began to warp back into her elven form.

Odd looked up, and he saw Patrick in the doorway, decked out in his magistrate armor. Behind him stood the other Heroes, who had also come ready to fight. "What in the name of the gods is going on here?" Patrick demanded, lowering his hand and approaching the Scout.

Since he was unwilling to admit to lycanthropy, Odd struggled to explain. Finally, he said, "Sam was an ex-lover of mine back in Capital Lyoko. It turns out that she was a werewolf—but you saw that. She asked me to help her make some money, and I agreed. She led me here, and we found this book. It… changed her." He shook his head. "Gods, I don't know what is going on myself. She told me about this thing, but I didn't know this would happen." He looked at Patrick in confusion. "How did you know I was here?"

He motioned to his cousin. "Ask Jeremie."

Odd looked to the Wise Man, but Aelita spoke. "After you left, I went into the city and told Jeremie that you were acting strangely, and that you and Sam had run off with Rorkal."

Jeremie spoke next. "I used my telepathy to find you. Do you not remember?"

Odd remembered the headache he had gotten outside of the den. "Oh, that was you?" He asked.

"Yes. The information wasn't much to go on, but we were able to find you quickly." Jeremie said.

Laura approached the Scout. "I don't see any injuries. Were you hurt?" She asked.

He sighed. "Nothing I won't recover from."

Patrick tied Sam's hands together with rope. "Well, I can't guarantee how much she'll remember, but I'm going to have to take her to the prisons. We can't have a werewolf on the loose." The magistrate said, lifting up Sam and trying his best not to let her fall.

"Please, don't let the Knight Templar execute her. She used to be a good person, I swear. She isn't acting like herself." Odd pleaded.

Patrick didn't seem too pleased, but his stern expression broke into a smile, and he said, "I'll see if I can't convince her to try curing her lycanthropy when she wakes up, but if she's uncooperative…"

Odd nodded. "I know. But, try to convince her to do it? For me?" He grinned.

"I'll try. I promise nothing." Patrick said, and he left the back room in silence, dragging Sam along with him.

When everyone was certain the magistrate was out of earshot, William looked back to Odd. "Don't you feel bad for forcing Sam into something you won't do yourself?"

"Sam has gone crazy. I'm in control," Odd said firmly.

Yumi kneeled by the corpses in the strange clothes. One of them was wearing a heavy gold amulet carved with a symbol. It was the sun, overlapped by two crescent moons. "Jeremie, isn't this the symbol on your mother's book bag?" She asked, removing the amulet to hand to the Wise Man. He compared the two symbols, and they were indeed the same. "What could it mean?"

"I don't know. I've only ever seen this symbol on my mother's book bag. I thought it was something personal to her—I have no idea what it means." Jeremie said, though he stored the amulet in the bag.

Odd grabbed the Codex from the pedestal. "They spoke about bringing the Codex to the Archivist. Did your mother ever mention someone like that?" He asked.

Jeremie thought for a moment. "Not that I can remember, though both she and my father were close to the archivist in the monastery in Capital Lyoko. I doubt they're the same person, though."

Ulrich shrugged. "If I know anything about our luck, and I do, we'll find out soon enough."

Jeremie smiled. "No doubt." He motioned for the others to follow him. "We speak with the mayor tomorrow, and then it's time for us to hit the road again."