A Wolf In The Night

Chapter 1

A terrified scream came from the forest. Crows scatter from the trees. The full moon shined brightly illuminating the streets of Casterlin.

"seems another victim of the forest..." A man said. A cloaked woman approached the man who had spoken. He was twirling an empty bottle as he grumbled to himself.

"excuse me sir, what do you mean? Does this sort of thing happen often?" The lady removed her hood as she sat down, revealing long beautiful white hair.

The man perked up a little at the sight of such a beautiful lady, "aye, another sorry lad or lass who didn't make it home in time for supper..." The man was barely keeping his eyes open.

The white haired lady handed him a coin, "is there anything you know about why it is happening?" She hid her face from any on lookers.

The man admired the coin, "hmmm well it doesn't happen every night... I don't know too much, but I know old Bergy has seen the beast once... Even gave him a nasty scar right here." The man clawed at his face as if it was his own wound.

The white haired woman got directions from the man and headed towards the hunting cabin at the edge of town. The gates to the town were locked shut. The gate was tall and sturdy as if it was trying to keep something out. She soon arrived at the old decrepit shack. A bit of fresh blood made a trail from the gate to the doors of the hunting shack.

The white haired woman shuddered slightly then knocked on the door.

Clomp clomp clomp

There was some shuffling inside then the door swung open. A tall human-like creature stood In the doorway. The moonlight only made the figure seem more ominous. The body was that of a man's, but the head was adorned with two large antlers.

The lady stepped back in shock. The creature stepped forward then spoke, "what do you want?" It was the voice of a man. The white haired lady realized now that the light was playing tricks on her. The man was wearing a deer's head mantle, likely made from a real deer. His right eye was grey, accompanied with 4 large gashes down his cheek.

The white haired lady regained her composure. "I am saintess Pembrooke, you may call me Catherine. I was sent here by the order to investigate the disappearances going on in Casterlin."

The hunter groaned, "ugh not another one! You're just gonna get yourself killed I tell ya! Just like the other two!" The hunter was quite gruff but he seemed kind even though he was upset. "You are lucky you made it into town before the full moon" the hunter turned around and entered his cabin.

Catherine followed, "and why is that?" She made a mental note about two others before her, afterall she was told that she was the first to investigate this.

The hunter removed his deer skin mantle revealing brown matted hair. He had a small beard slightly stained by blood. He began to use a carving knife on a deer carcass. "Well... Some will say Casterlin is cursed. Every full moon another poor soul is hunted down by a ferocious beast..." He said it with a bit of sorrow. "Unfortunately what we are dealing with is no beast at all." The hunter stopped carving and turned his head towards Catherine.

"it is a man"

Chapter 2

Not a beast, but a man. The hunter stared into Catherine's eyes. His grey dull eye looked sad, while his left green eye looked determined and serious.

"so I take it you're Bergy then?" Catherine questioned the hunter. She looked around the shack a bit more. There were plenty of trophies hanging on the wall: a bears head, a moose, more deer.

Bergy nodded, "yes, they call me Bergy, short for biggy, which is short for big game hunter, as you've probably already figured out. The other two who came before asked the same questions. Whats in the woods? Why does it only happen at the full moon, is it faster to skin a pig or a deer. I always tell them the same thing..." He kept carving away at the deer.

Catherine wasn't expecting a pig, she was going to ask if the bear or the moose took longer actually. She shook her head at the thought, "although I would like an answer to all those questions, I think I would like to know what exactly happened to my peers... And why I hadn't heard about them..." Catherine was bothered by the idea that the order had hidden some very important details from her.

Bergy started peeling the skin off the deer and with one pull was able to remove the entire pelt. "I suppose you were probably pulled off an other case and told this one was an emergency too weren't ya?" He hooked the deer on the wall to drain it's blood.

Catherine was speechless. Was he saying that the other two just so happened to be in the exact same situation as her? They were all sent here during another case and they were also told that it was an emergency? Why would the order do that?

Bergy kept talking, "I bet you were awfully close to solving that other case too weren't ya?" He winked at her with his good eye and sat down. He grabbed a drink that was splattered with blood and took a swig.

Catherine glared at Bergy, "what are you saying? The order wouldn't have sent me here just to shut me up..." She believed that too, but how could Bergy be so certain of her exact situation?

The hunter swirled his drink and put his feet up on the table, "a disappearance case, a bloody scene, a scandal? Likely all related to one culprit I imagine, but the others never really told me much about what happened... Sworn to an oath of secrecy or something like that." His chair tilted back as he got comfy.

Catherine was getting a head ache. She stood up and turned towards the door. "I'm going to find a place to sleep."

As she left the shack Bergy called to her, "I'm telling you this for your own good, but sticking your nose in things, like your kind does, only gets you killed."

The town was silent. The cold wind breezed by and made the wooden doors creak. Catherine marched away from the lonely shack and found an inn.

As she laid in bed that night she couldn't help but consider the possibility that she was sent here to die.

"but I also swore an oath of secrecy... Why would the order want to kill-...." As if answering her own question she stopped herself. "You're getting ahead of yourself Catherine, just do your job, he's probably just trying to scare you." she muttered to herself. She closed her eyes and refocused on her mission.

A howl came from the forest, Catherine looked out the window to see a wolf-like creature in the distance. It stared at her with glowing eyes as it stood on two feet. Just beyond the gate at the edge of the forest it glared in her direction. Then it ran back into the forest.

Chapter 3

Catherine wandered the town exploring the shops and learning about the people. She entered an apothecary called "Septimus And Sons" she entered and a bell rang.

"hold on! I'll be out in a moment!" A young boy shouted from the back. Catherine examined the store, but it was nothing like a normal pharmacy. Instead there were poisons and other plants which she had never heard of.

Just then a young man in his late teens or early twenties rushed behind the counter, "so sorry for the wait, how can I help you today?" He wore a white lab coat and had black hair. His face seemed to have some burns that looked fresh.

Catherine examined a bottle, "what is wolfsbane?" She asked as she pulled it off the shelf.

The young boy looked around a bit suspiciously, "that one is good for avoiding the you-know-what, not sure why, but granddad always made sure merchants left with it around their neck. Never did see any of them again..." He seemed to be reliving the past for a moment.

Catherine put the bottle back and examined the other strange plants. "What are all of these? I've never even heard of half of them."

The young man nodded, "fair. These plants only grow in the forest by Casterlin. It's no doubt you wouldn't have heard of them if you aren't from around here. Things like, wisp breath, blood drinkers, poison donut..." He started pointing at a few of the oddly named ones.

"so what exactly do you do then?" Catherine thought it was a bunch of folklore hogwash.

The young boy seemed genuine, "I'm a doctor, grandad always taught me about everything he made: potions, tonics, poisons. Most of these things are necessary if you want to survive in the forest."

Catherine furled a questioning brow, "why would you need to survive in the forest? I came in quite easily. Though I suppose that creature could be dangerous. But couldn't anyone just leave? If it really does only appear on full moons then every other day of the fortnight should be safe right?"

The young doctor widened his eyes, "so you don't know? You can't leave casterlins forest except on a full moon." He gathered a couple of bottles together. "You must've arrived just yesterday, you really are lucky you made it in the town before the gates closed. This forest has a magic spell on it. You can't leave until the full moon, if you try then you'll find yourself back at the entrance of the town again. All the towns folk know better than to even try leaving on a full moon though, even if you spent the whole day trying to escape the forest, the moon would eventually come out, only then can you leave... And by then you were already being tracked by you-know-what."

Catherine disregarded the boys warnings, "well thank you. Should I need you, I'll call on you again." She held out her hand for a handshake.

The young boy grabbed it cheerfully, "Septimus... after my grandad... Not because I'm the seventh or anything... I'm actually the only one left." He gave a weak smile. And waved goodbye.

Catherine went to the church to think some more about what she had learned. She sat in one of the empty pews as the patriarch read scripture and prayed to the All Mother. She sat in silence until he finished, then he approached her.

"so what is a saintess of the order doing in Casterlin of all places?" He seemed to already know but wanted to strike up a conversation anyways.

Catherine smiled warmly at the patriarch, "it seems there is trouble in the town father... Is it true that one one can leave?" She knew that he would not lie.

The patriarch clasped his hands together, "ah... I am sorry... But it is true. There is a mighty spell at work that even I am unable to break..." He seemed worried.

Catherine sighed. Whether she was sent here to die or not. There was only one way out of town. She looked up at the patriarch, "what do you know of the beast of the forest?" Now determined to survive she needed to get information.

The patriarch led her to the library, "we have an ancient scroll. Here, read this." It was a dusty parchment but she took it and sprawled it out on the table. There was one large word at the top of the parchment.

"Werewolf"

Chapter 4

Werewolves are creatures of the full moon. During the day they appear as one of us, a human. During the full moon they shed their mortal skin and become invincible creatures 10x stronger than any man.

Werewolves are often accompanied by various other magical environmental changes. A werewolf, when settled, creates a lair. No creatures may leave that lair except during the full moon when the creature is its strongest. Because of the mystical nature of their existence, the earth rises up to fight the anomaly. Certain plants like wolfsbane arise in order to provide poisons to fight against this creature.

Killing a werewolf is nigh impossible. While wolfsbane has shown signs of weakening the creatures, no one has ever successfully destroyed a werewolf entirely. No steel or iron has injured the creature. When the werewolf's human form is discovered, killing him as a human will not remove the curse. It is instead placed upon the killer. A bite from a werewolf (if survived at all) will result in the spreading of the curse, creating more werewolves.

If you encounter a werewolf, you are likely already in its lair. There is no escape, instead create a fortress surrounded by wolfsbane to keep it at bay. Good luck.

**********

The parchment ended there. There was no known way to defeat the werewolf.

Catherine marvelled at the strange text. Magic wasn't too uncommon. But a mythical creature like the werewolf was usually just a fairytale. She curled up the parchment and placed it in the shelf.

As she wandered the street back to her inn she twiddled with her holy charm, a silver necklace with the insignia of the All Mother on it. It had a sword with a sharp tip at the end which Catherine always thought was a bit dangerous.

She passed a local pub and heard a rowdy cheering coming from several people inside. She caught a glimpse of a woman dressed in leather arm wrestling with a muscle head. She drank her beer as she pushed his hand down to the table. Everyone cheered as she lifted her arms up in victory.

Intrigued, Catherine entered the pub. The stench of alcohol and dirty sweaty men filled her nose. She covered her mouth in hopes of keeping the smell away. The woman who had just won the arm wrestling match was now sitting alone, drinking her beer as the other men teased the loser.

Catherine approached, "how did you manage to pull that off?" She asked with a curiousity in her voice.

The leather wearing woman gave her a drowsy look up and down, "oh another one of you lot. Heh heh heh, they just keep sending them down here don't they!" She took a long sip of her drink. "Between you and me, saintess, this probably ain't the best place to be for such a pious woman eh? Hahaha!" She laughed heartily.

Catherine shrugged, "well since I'm stuck here for another half month I figured I might as well get to know the town." She held out her arm to wrestle the leather wearing woman. She had brown hair tied up in the back.

The leatherwearing woman gave Catherine a smirk, "alright let's see what you're made of" The woman gripped Catherine's hand tightly and rotated the wrist towards herself, then as they both pulled, Catherine realized she didn't have her usual strength and lost almost instantly.

She smiled, realizing that this woman wasn't strong, she was smart. "You aren't from around here. You are a Fortheran... A tracker" Catherine introduced herself, "I'm lady Catherine Pembrooke." She bowed slightly.

The woman squinted at Catherine, "it is remarkable that you could tell my profession just from my grip... My name is Pearl. Pleased to meet you saintess."

Catherine massaged her now sore hand, "only fortherans could come up with such a trick. We shall see each other again Pearl."

Catherine left the pub and wandered once again around the town. Bergy started to approach her. "Ah saintess... We have a problem. The person who was attacked last night... I don't think they died. I found the place where they were attacked. Usually the creature leaves a corpse, but this time, the victim crawled away. They might still be alive. Unfortunately my tracking abilities aren't what they used to be. If that person is still alive then we should try to save them."

Catherine groaned audibly. "That's not good... If they are alive, then you're gonna be hunting two creatures Bergy... It spreads through biting people."

Bergys eyes widened, "oh... Oh no"