Wolfgang’s eyes snapped open, it took a few moments for the haze of sleep to leave his mind. A bright light passed over his bedroom window before winking out. Rolling over he looked at the shape of Iliana in the darkness, he looked back at the window into the darkness beyond. A noise caught his ear, he strained to listen. The sound grew louder, a low rumbling, the sound of an engine, it disappeared suddenly. Sitting up Wolfgang slowly removed the blanket from his legs and stepped onto the wooden floor and crossed the room to the window. He kept himself out of the window proper and looked out into the complete darkness beyond. Standing perfectly still he watched, the clouded sky blocked the moon so the world beyond his window was totally black. Still he remained, he knew he had heard something; vehicles did not normally come up this far from the village that rested in the valley below his house.

Slowly the clouds above broke slightly and the moon shone through for a split second, but a split second was all Wolfgang needed to make out the shape of several men making their way up the hill. He could tell by the way they had spread themselves out that they were military and he had caught a slight glimpse of what appeared to be a transport truck parked behind them. Backing slowly towards the bed he leaned over Iliana, shook her gently and put his face close to hers, “Get Artur and take him through the tunnel as we discussed. Men are here who mean me harm.” He said in a hoarse whisper. Iliana’s dark eyes stared into his in the darkness for a moment before she nodded and began dressing quickly. Wolfgang moved to the window again, he could not see the men anymore but he knew they would be closing in quickly. He returned the bed and slowly and quietly slid the chest out from beneath; he opened the lid and removed the revolver and shotgun that he kept inside. 

Iliana finished dressing and moved to the door, she paused for a moment as she passed Wolfgang, crouched down loading the shotgun, he stopped and looked up at her. “I’m sorry.” He said quietly to her. She placed a hand on his shoulder before disappearing through the door, he listened to her soft padding footsteps as she walked down the corridor to their son’s room. When he finished loading the shotgun he cocked it quietly and stood again, he threw on some clothes before making his way to his son’s room and looking in through the open door. Iliana was dressing Artur quickly and was in the process of putting on his shoes as he entered, he left the shotgun at the door to prevent Artur from seeing it. Kneeling down in front of him he smiled, “You and your mother are going on a trip son,” He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder, “We’re all going to play a game together where we stay as quiet as possible, not one word. I bet you can do that better than anyone.” Artur nodded and placed his hand over his mouth. Wolfgang smiled again and squeezed his shoulder gently. Standing he picked Artur up and walked with Iliana to the kitchen, handed his son to her and slowly pushed a large shelf away from the wall revealing a trapdoor beneath.

Pulling the heavy wooden door open Wolfgang took Artur from Iliana, “Take the boat to Bar, if I do not meet you there within one day then take the train up the coast into Austria and I will find you. Take the money and the revolver in the bag at the bottom of the ladder.” He said quietly in English so his son would not understand. Iliana nodded and walked to him kissing him on the lips before climbing down the ladder into the darkness below. Wolfgang looked at his son and kissed him on the forehead, “Be good for your mother.” He said before handing him down to Iliana. He looked down at them before closing the heavy door and pushing the shelf back on top of the hatch. The moment they were gone Wolfgang let out a breath, he had stayed totally calm for their sake but now the anger and fear flooded into him, men were here for him and they would have harmed his family in taking him, he knew that much was true. Stepping back into the corridor he retrieved the shotgun and then made his way to the back door of his house through the kitchen. Quietly unlocking the door he slipped out into the small vegetable garden in the back and made his way to the small barn where his tractor was parked. 

Stepping into the barn Wolfgang walked into one of the empty animal stalls and knelt down, he unfastened a loose plank and put it aside. Reaching into the opening he retrieved three stick grenades that he had stored there, putting the handles through his belt. He climbed the ladder into the hayloft and looked out of the opening into the garden below. The cloud cover was dissipating slowly, he waited until he could see the shapes of the men flanking around the house. He watched them check the windows as they made their way around the house, five men in total at this side of the house. The man at the front of the group reached the back door and waited for the others to catch up. Wolfgang stood slowly and removed one of the grenades from his belt, he waited for the men to group up at the back door before pulling the chord at the base of the grenade and throwing it across the yard at the feet of the men. There was a second of silence before one of the men exclaimed and the grenade detonated. Wolfgang waited; more men appeared, this time from the opposite side of the house. He could make out their rifles against the white exterior of his house as they reached the corner and looked around at the location the grenade had detonated.

Wolfgang pulled the chord on another of the grenades and threw them into this second group. Turning he made his way down the ladder, the grenade detonated as he hit the ground and he could hear the shouting and clamour of men as they sought cover. Reaching the back of the barn he pulled a heavy canvas cover off of a thin framed motorcycle. Jumping on he kicked the engine into life before speeding out of the back entrance of the barn. As he sped down the hill, gunshots rang out behind him and he could hear the whistle of the bullets as they missed him slightly. The hillside lit up as two headlamps appeared behind him, glancing back quickly he saw that the truck had been brought to the top of the hill and had smashed through the fence next the barn and was now in pursuit. Knowing he would not out run them Wolfgang took the last grenade from his belt and brought the chord up to his mouth before pulling it with his teeth and tossing it out to his right. Crouching low on his motorcycle he sped down the hill, gaining speed as he went, a few seconds later he heard the grenade explode followed by loud crash. Looking behind him he saw that the grenade had caught the back tyre of the truck and had caused it to jack-knife and flip.

More men appeared from the crest of the hill and began taking shots at him, Wolfgang turned and kept himself low on the motorcycle as he sped into the Montenegrin countryside while the bullets whistled around him. He kept going for several miles before ditching his motorbike in some underbrush and doubling back on himself. He made his way along the rocky shoreline with the waves crashing against the rocks masking the sound of his movement. He reached some short trees and sank down to his below to crawl through the thick foliage. He continued on for what seemed like hours, he lost all sense of time as he crawled along with nothing but the rustling of the trees and the sound of the crashing waves. He had to know that Iliana and Artur had gotten away before escaping himself. Their boat was left in a small bay that was almost invisible from both the sea and the land, he knew that the men would not have found it if they had planes with them they would be unable to see it in the darkness.

Wolfgang crested a small hill that looked down onto the bay, his stomach sank as he saw the small white boat rocking back and forward on the waves. Moving forward slightly he looked down onto the small beach where the tunnel from his kitchen emerged. A group of men stood, two had lanterns and they illuminated the beach in front of them. Iliana and Artur lay there, at first Wolfgang took them to be tied up. He checked the shotgun that he had strapped around his shoulder and began planning how to get down to them. His attention went back to the men, they seemed to be arguing, one man in particular seemed to be shouting at the others. He motioned to Iliana and Artur, three of the men approached and lifted them. Wolfgang had seen death in his life, so many times, he knew by the way his wife and his son moved when the men lifted them that they were dead. The men carried them back from the water and laid them side by side on the beach. Tears were flowing down Wolfgang’s cheeks and he fought back the urge to scream. He buried his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut, he wished for it all to disappear.

Slowly, Wolfgang looked down at the men below him. He no longer cared about escaping, there was no reason to escape now. He began pushing himself up off the ground until the light caught the face of one of the men. It was the man who had been shouting at the others, the light from the lanterns caught his hair, silver hair. Wolfgang collapsed back onto his stomach and stared down at the man, it was Arturo Vargas. He saw now the familiar way his old friend carried himself, the arrogant air that he had always had. Wolfgang lay in stunned silence, the men went into the tunnel and disappeared from view but Wolfgang was barely aware of the passage of time. He lay in the underbrush for hours, the sun rose and he still did not move. His entire world had been shattered in a single night, he struggled to believe that all of this was really happening. He didn’t know how long he lay there but by the time he pushed himself to his knees and looked down at the bay below him and the surrounding countryside, he could see nothing. He looked at the small shapes of his wife and his only child, everything that he had lived for since he met Iliana, he wished so deeply that he could go to them, to bury them. He knew that he couldn’t, there would almost certainly be an ambush for him down there. 

Wolfgang made his way back along the coast and managed to jump on board a train heading northwards into Austria-Hungary. He operated solely on instinct and eventually found himself in the Austrian city of Zadar in a tavern. He had barely anything with him but used the last of his money to buy as much cheap spirits as he could until he was blind drunk. He kept himself in a drunken stupor for several days before he finally ran out of money completely and could no longer steal anything without getting caught. He spent a day in self-loathing as he sobered up and then, with his head clear again he made a decision, he would kill the men who had taken his family from him. He would kill Arturo Vargas, the traitor who he had called a brother. Wolfgang knew he couldn’t do it alone, he began travelling around the coast of the Adriatic into Italy, he visited some of his old contacts that he had dealt with when he was a pirate, only the ones he knew he would be able to trust not to pass their information onto Arturo. The word went out, the Wolves of the Mediterranean were returning.

---

Wolfgang landed his plane gently in the sea just off the coast of Sicily, he steered into the entrance of the sea cave that he had used once or twice in the old days to hide in when he was being pursued. He had chosen this location as a meeting place for any of the former members of the Wolves that had gotten his message and were willing to join up with him again. Part of him wondered how many would come, he hadn’t heard much of what the former members of his gang had been doing since their separation. That had been the point, they vowed never to see each other again. Killing the engine he let his plane float the rest of the way into the cave, standing up on the seat he exited the open cockpit and took his mooring rope in one hand before walking along the wing and jumping down onto the rock shelf of the cave. He looped the rope around a piece of rock that jutted back out towards the cave entrance and stepped back to look at his plane, he had retrieved it from storage and had spent some time getting it back up to scratch. He had to replace most of the engine and repaint the whole plane in its trademark white, time had not been kind to it in the old warehouse he had hidden it in.

Walking along the rock shelf and into the cave proper Wolfgang smiled to himself slightly, when he had been here last he had complained about missing the comfort of the taverns that they had stayed in previously. To remedy this he had built a small wooden cabin inside the cave and had put furniture inside to make it look like the common room of a tavern, he approached the cabin and forced the rusted door open. Looking around he could see it had been untouched since he had been there last, the layer of dust was so thick it looked like everything had turned grey. He got to work tidying the place and lit the small gas lamps that were dotted around the room. Sitting down in a wooden chair he placed his feet on the long table that ran the length of the room and removed a short cigar and a box of matches from the top pocket of his leather pilot’s jacket and began smoking. He looked at the door and waited to find out if any of his old friends had heard his call and been foolish enough to come to this meeting.