A Soldier's Life - 277 - Howl You Doing? (final edit 6-16-25)

Chapter 277: Howl You Doing?

By Rolf’s expression, maybe I had exceeded my authority. Rolf was not the only one in shock; Raelia was still seated on Stormcloud, looking at me strangely. The elven townsfolk began murmuring excitedly amongst themselves as the leader told me what happened. “This morning, the beast broke into the house. We think her brother tried to protect her, and the werewolf killed him and took her. She was hauled away screaming before dawn. By the time our men had roused, her screams were fading into the woods.”

I frowned as it was just a few hours to sunset, and the werewolf had nearly a half-day head start. I considered taking Ginger for faster pursuit, but I needed to use my earth-speak spell form, so it was better if she remained behind. Finally, Rolf regained himself and reminded me, “You are contracted to me.”

I chewed my response for a moment. Maybe my Hound training had taken over a bit, or maybe it was the young elf girl who was in trouble. A Pack of Hounds would hunt a single werewolf. Werewolves were usually solitary creatures, but not always either. Still, I had a lot of confidence in my skills. “Do I have your permission to hunt the werewolf?”

“What are your chances?” Rolf asked, stroking his beard thoughtfully. I could tell he was feeling the pressure of the townsfolk. I had given them hope, and he didn’t want to snatch it away.

“Of killing the beast? One hundred percent if I can catch it. Of saving the child.” Hearne’s lessons on werewolves were extensive, and I also read about them in the dreamscape. I spoke quieter, “Depends if it took her to infect or as a meal. Werewolves are intelligent creatures. It can hunt plenty of food in the wild, so it doesn’t need to hunt people and draw attention to itself. I am guessing it plans to infect her and use her as a mate eventually. Lycanthropy becomes permanent after thirty days, and once it does, it cannot be cured by any means.”

Rolf looked a bit uncomfortable as he wrestled under the gaze of the townsfolk. There was a hopefulness in their eyes. “That confident?” He said skeptically. A bit exasperated, he consented, “I can wait a day in town, but in case you do not come back, you need to leave at least two of your companions behind so I can finish my trip.”

Blaze had a questioning look on his face as we had only been speaking Elvish. I switched to Telhian, to address my companions. “A werewolf took a child just before dawn. I am going to hunt it alone. You are all staying here.”

“Harpies tits, Eryk. We are going with you,” Mateo said angrily, resting his hand on his sword.

Maveith's face clouded as well, “You can’t stop us from coming with you.”

“No. You will all stay here and go with Rolf if I don’t return in time. We have an obligation to him and also to Maveith. Besides, I am the only one here immune to the effects of lycanthropy,” I said stoically.

“Your healing cannot prevent the disease,” Raelia snapped angrily.

“My protection is from a different spell form,” I admitted. Her jaw didn’t seem to work as she had both questions and doubt on her face—and maybe some concern.

Raelia, still mounted, questioned my decision. “There is nothing to gain with this hunt. These people have nothing to reward you with, the child is likely dead, and werewolves are incredibly powerful adversaries. They are also highly magical creatures with a strong innate resistance.”

I paused as Raelia was hinting that my dimensional space might not work on the fiend. I was not worried about being bitten as my spell form could purify my blood. “I will be fine,” I dismissed her arguments.

Blaze approached and spoke privately with me in one last effort to sway me. “Eryk, is this a wise course of action? Night will fall in the next hour, and the werewolf has a sizable lead.” He was trying to make me see reason, but didn’t know the extent of my abilities.

I revealed another of my secrets to him. “I have a spell form that allows me to see in the dark. My Hound training prepared me to hunt these creatures. I am the one with the advantage here. But if I don’t return, finish escorting Rolf and help Maveith find his sister.” I patted him on the shoulder. I nearly decided to hand out a few things from my dimensional space, but that would send the message that I doubted myself.

I handed Ginger’s reins to Maveith and a bag of apples for her. “I should go with you,” Maveith said, but I shook my head.

Mateo offered me the sheathed Primus’ blade. “Eryk, do you want to exchange blades? I think the stronger the runic blade, the more effective they are against werewolves.”

“No need, my friend. I have Boris’ dungeon blade.” I walked past him, and Baldo, not understanding I was leaving, hopped after me, chirping for boar meat. Raelia called him back and whispered something under her breath that sounded like, “You cannot convince a fool to stray from his desired path,” in Elvish, loud enough for me to hear.

I followed the town leader to the house where the werewolf had attacked. The window had been torn away, with claw marks gouging the hardwood. Through the window, I could see dried pools of blood where the brother must have been killed. Studying the ground, I easily found the clawed prints. They were massive and resembled a bear more than a wolf. Wolves have four toes, while bears and werewolves have five. These impressions were nearly as big as Maveith’s.

“Did anyone see the werewolf?” I asked my guide.

The elf shook his head, confused. “No, our Ranger was certain it was a werewolf, and he has three centuries of experience.” I scowled while standing, as that was a jab at my short-lived human race.

“If it is a werewolf, it is likely an alpha,” I said confirming.

“That is what Ranger Taegan said,  ‘Most likely an Alpha.’ It was why he went to seek help. Will you not attempt it then?” The elf asked, distressed and fidgety.

“I will still go,” I noted and started to walk towards the woods. When I reached the wood line, I sent out my first earth pulse and entered a jog. There were three types of werewolves. The most common were the infected. They were men and women infected with the lycanthropy disease. These werewolves could appear like normal people but could transform into monstrous humanoid wolves, greatly enhancing their speed and strength.

The second type of werewolf was the true werewolf, and what I had been expecting to face. This creature’s natural form was a large humanoid wolf. They could transform into a large wolf at will but would never pass for a human. They were more feral than the infected but still highly intelligent. The third type, and most dangerous, were alphas.

Alphas were larger, stronger, and faster than normal true werewolves. They were similar to dire creatures who had mutated from aether saturation. I had fought dire boars and a dire owlbear in the Shimmering Labyrinth, but I had an idea of how dangerous this foe would be until I faced him.

As I distanced myself from the town, I switched my blade to the magebane. Being struck by this weapon should prevent the creature from transforming, but that was more of an educated guess. I left the sword sheathed on my hip as I increased my pace. The next heartbeat, the black spear was in my hand. It was my strongest weapon and would give me a greater range than a werewolf's claws.

Disturbingly, the trail was relatively easy to follow. I expected more caution for an intelligent creature. Four miles from the town, my fears were assayed. The trail completely disappeared. The sun was setting, and the shadows were extending. The clouds above indicated it was going to be a dark night.

It took a few earth pulses to find the trail again. The werewolf had climbed a tree, swung to a few trees, and then resumed running on rocks. It was his heavy mass that had disturbed the rocks and let me pick up his trail again. It was still many hours old, so I started to increase my pace.

I funneled aether through my night-vision spell form and continued my pursuit as night fell. The child was alive! I found signs where the werewolf had rested and put her down while he drank from a stream. She had barely moved during these rest periods, and I could only imagine her fear.

The Esenhem woodlands were also teeming with wildlife, big and small. They scattered before me as I pursued my quarry. The most dangerous creature I encountered was a lone centaur who had bedded down. It was a female, and she endeavored to remain hidden as I passed. I had no time to deal with her and passed quickly.

After hours of pursuit, I paused to drink some water. I took the break to reset my blood compass using Maveith’s blood. Not because I was concerned that he was following me, but so I could locate the caravan after confronting the werewolf. I activated it and sensed Maveith was over twenty miles away. I couldn’t believe I had traveled so far, and dawn was still hours away.

I knew I was getting closer to my quarry as the tracks were getting fresher. The werewolf lair was probably not much further, and I could smell hints of pungent urine in the air. Just like wolves, werewolves marked their territory by peeing around the perimeter. I decided to withdraw till sunrise and see if I could locate them with the spyglass.

I found a modest, mostly grassy hill and settled among the rocks. I was not alone for long as a creature approached me from behind. My earth pulse identified it as a werewolf, though smaller than I expected my target to be. I surmised it was a sentry I hadn’t noticed.

Either way, it was stalking me and planned to attack. When it cleared the rise and rushed my back, I was ready, and the black spear easily pierced its hairy chest, holding it at bay. I drew the magebane and beheaded it in one swift motion. The werewolf hadn’t had time to emit a warning howl, but in the aftermath, I increased the frequency of my earth pulses.

The corpse was that of a mature, elven female werewolf, clearly infected, and not a true werewolf. Maybe this alpha was building a harem for himself. Waiting for a few minutes to be sure I had not yet been discovered by more, I retrieved and used the collector. The aetheric smoke coalesced into a minor dexterity essence. I stored the collector and essence and turned to studying my sight lines with the spyglass.

A small finger of smoke told me they were cooking a distance away, just over a mile in my estimation. My jaw tightened, and I hoped that they were not cooking the girl. I needed to know how many more of the creatures were there. I was confident against one or two, but three or more?

While I was looking for movement, another werewolf moved into the range of my earth-speak pulses. The creature moved cautiously, following the path of the last one. I guessed it was tracking by smell—possibly how the first one found me. This time, I was not going to let it get close. I moved to engage before it crested the rise, swinging the black spear in a tight arc.

The werewolf was more agile than I had given it credit for, and it leaped back out of range, emitting a warning howl as it did so. Others quickly returned the call, and I cursed Fortuna for abandoning me. Why, again, would it be a good idea to hunt these creatures alone? It was my own foolishness for thinking there would be only one.

Although the wolf avoided my first swing, it was unsuccessful as I pulled the spear back and extended for a quick thrust into its abdomen. The spear’s leaf tip cut through hairy hide and muscle, and I pressed down, opening it up. Its intestines spilled onto the ground. In shock, it was unable to defend itself as I swung the spear again, this time across its throat, silencing it.

I moved to the best defensible position on the hill and waited to see what fate had in store for me. The werewolves circled the base of the hill as I did my best to count their number. I thought there were four more plus the larger alpha, and I hoped there would not be any more uninvited guests—my dance card was definitely full. The alpha was massive as it stalked below between the trees, sniffing the air of my scent and the blood I had spilled of its pack mates.

There was only one smart way they would attack. They would space themselves around the hill and all rush me simultaneously to overwhelm my position. It would only take one successful bite to immobilize my arm or leg, and from there, I would be finished. Calmness overcame my simmering fear. All I needed to do was kill them one at a time.

Kneeling with one hand on my spear and the other holding a fistful of pellets, I waited calmly for the attack. There was no running at this point. It was the alpha who signaled the assault with a snarl and barking command. I was surprised when he didn’t join the four females in the rush. I decided he was just delaying his rush, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.

I smashed smoke and blindness pellets on stones toward two of the werewolves and the alpha’s likely ascent. Facing the other direction, the black spear flashed, removing the hand of the werewolf, and then a thrust penetrated the throat of the other as I danced among them. I cursed as the tip burst out of the back of the neck as the werewolf fell toward me, trapping the shaft of my spear.

I was not going to have time to extract it before the others reached me. I released the spear and drew magebane. A splatter of blood hit my face from the werewolf with the missing hand. Spittle and blood spat from her mouth as it tried to tackle me for its pack mates.

The beast was a clumsy fighter, relying on its strength and speed but being far too direct in her attacks. I retreated and side-stepped her claw swipe before hacking the back of its neck. I was surprised at the minimal penetration of the thick hide in this form. Her one good hand went to the cut as it was flowing freely. She lost a few fingers as magebane descended again, this time cutting deep enough to crush the spine. She fell limply, and if she was not dead, she would bleed out quickly.

I turned to face the final three threats, believing I was in good shape. My blindness pellets had done their job, and the other two smaller wolves were awkwardly rubbing their eyes as they emerged from the dissipating cloud.

These females were thinner and leaner, and most likely more recently infected. The alpha roared from inside the cloud before bursting through in anger. Although his eyes were squinted and caked, he looked less affected than the others.

I needed to even the odds quickly and rushed the blinded female on my left. The hulking eight-foot alpha had enough vision to intercede. He barreled into me in a flash of movement, uncaring about my blade. I managed to get magebane angled under his ribs as he tackled me. The magbane slid easily up into his heart, but his surprising willingness to give up his life ended with his arms wrapped around me and my forearm in his jaws as he tried to take me with him in his death throes.

We crashed to the ground, his mass forcing the air out of my lungs as he landed on top of me. I fought to hold him at bay. The earth drake runic bracers were holding up under his powerful jaws, but his powerful neck was jerking my arm hard as his saliva sprayed over me. I was pinned to the ground and ready to remove the alpha’s head when something bit into my leg and yanked hard.

The alpha would die shortly, so I redirected my dimensional space to the one using my leg as a chew toy. I removed a portion of its head, killing it instantly, but bottoming out my aether. The alpha was weakened enough that I was able to roll him, switching to the top position. Magebane was buried deep in the alpha’s chest, and the hilt was covered in hot, slick blood. I grabbed the hilt and yanked on it, doing more damage until the Alpha finally seemed to concede its life.

I wrenched my arm out of its slackened jaws and stood looking for the last werewolf. It was fleeing, stumbling blindly down the hill.

There was damage to my shoulder, forearm, and shin. I hobbled to retrieve the black spear and fumbled for a Pathfinder healing potion in my belt. My hands were coated in blood, and I consumed as much blood as potion. The werewolf blood actually made the foul potion more bearable to drink. Soothing relief flooded my injuries as it worked, and I made to pursue the last werewolf. I caught her before she made it halfway back to the camp as she appeared to be moving by smell and not sight. She hadn’t been aware of my approach from behind, and I severed her spine and then removed her head in two quick slashes.

My adrenaline from the fight was still surging, as I didn’t know if there were more enemies. I climbed back up the hill to take in the carnage. The soil was soaked with blood, some of it mine. The female werewolves were mangy-looking creatures in this form, and I think only the alpha was a true werewolf, with a denser pelt and a menacing, massive, fanged maw. I retrieved the magebane from the alpha’s chest and let my aether recover as my heart settled.

First, I used an earth pulse to ensure no others were coming. Then, as I recovered aether, I fully healed my injuries. I knew I had been infected, and my purify self spell form showed me the foreign infection propagating in my blood. It was more difficult to remove than a normal disease, taking more aether and focus, but I slowly eradicated its presence inside me. At least I would not be howling at the next full moon.

When I felt mostly whole and pure again, I looked around. It was time to harvest what I could and see if the elf child was still alive. I hoped all this effort was not for nothing.

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