... The beast bellowed loudly in pain and charged at Mr. Knightley and Emma.
The beast charging towards them was a wolf, but unlike any other wolf Emma had ever seen. It was easily larger than a man with black fur. Its eyes glowed yellow and were filled with anger, hate, and human intelligence. It locked eyes with Mr. Knightley and seemed to recognize him.
The blade he had thrown had hit the beast on its side and was still embedded in its flesh. Just before the wolf hit the couple, he threw Emma out of the way to safety. She rolled across the floor until she hit her head on a tree stump and came to rest. She felt a little dazed, but was unhurt.
Mr. Knightley, meanwhile was on the floor with the gigantic wolf above him. He was struggling to keep the thing’s jaws away from his face by shoving his forearms against its throat. She frantically looked around for a weapon. She found a fallen tree branch, ran over to the struggling pair, and hit the beast in the side as hard as she possibly could.
The beast wasn’t hurt very much, but it took its attention from Mr. Knightley to Emma. Taking advantage of Emma’s diversion, he produced another silver dagger from his other cuff and stabbed the creature and twisted the blade into its abdomen. As the wolf howled in pain, he scurried out from beneath the beast and ran to Emma just as she was batted away by a new wolf.
This wolf was just as large and had russet fur, with the same eerie yellow eyes. Mr. Knightley produced a pistol from his belt and shot at the new wolf. Without looking to see if the shot had landed, he grabbed Emma from where she had fallen and ran deeper into the woods.
After a few minutes, they sought refuge behind a large tree. He produced a ball of silver from his pocket and took out some matches. He waited until he could hear the wolves carefully tracking them. He lit the fuse on the ball and threw it in the direction of the wolves.
He hugged Emma, covered her ears, and pressed close to the tree so the blast wouldn’t hurt them. “There was an explosion and wails of pain as silver shrapnel erupted and sprayed” the two wolves.*
Mr. Knightley ran to the wounded animals and cut their throats with his last silver dagger to ensure their deaths.
Emma breathed a sigh of relief as she gazed upon the dead beasts. She and Mr. Knightley embraced and started the walk back to the picnic site.
the end
* Taken from page 94 of Emma and the Werewolves by Jane Austen and Adam Rann.
~*~
Emma and Mr Knightley's Encounter
part 1
part 2
part 3 - end
- guest post from Titania86 of Fishmuffins of Doom
Thanks Elizabeth!
- image source werewolf
- part of Mr Knightley's Picnic
