Even as the days passed, the changes Hood had experienced during the Blood Moon never quite reverted. Her teeth seemed longer and sharper, her left arm had grown and warped almost to match her bestial silver appendage and her eyes seemed to glow red and gold whenever the light hit them. But strangely, she somehow seemed more at peace with herself than she had before the Blood Moon, which was something of a blessing. The late summer heat was thick and stifling, and the three travellers were constantly caked in sweat and road dust as they made their way towards the large, walled city in the distance. “Something’s not right…” Ulrik muttered as he surveyed the landscape in front of them. “There’s a lot about this that isn’t right.” Hood agreed calmly. “The walls are bristling with armed soldiers, but there isn’t a single soul outside the gates. And the whole area smells of wolf.” “That’s because they’re all around us. I’ve only spotted a few, but from the scent I’d guess every building and copse of trees in line of sight of the city is full of lurking wolves.” “What!?” Ulrik cast his head about with a hint of panic, and now that he really looked he caught sight of the occasional pair of watching golden eyes or flashes of grey fur. Once he managed to calm himself slightly he turned back to Hood. “If there are so many wolves here, why aren’t they attacking?” “Because we’re doing exactly what they want us to. We’re going to the capital.” Ulrik’s face fell as realization dawned. “They’re herding us, the same way they herded the people from all those towns and farms we passed.” “That’s my guess. I’m sure if we tried to turn around and go back, they’d be a lot less inclined to let us pass.” ”How can you be so calm about this?” “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m furious. But it’s a cold fury. I think I used up all my hot anger during the Blood Moon. Give me a few more days and I’m sure I’ll be able to get properly angry again.” Ulrik wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he said nothing as the group drew closer to the great walled city of Königsburg. As they drew up to the main gate they were greeted by an extremely tired-looking woman in a guard’s uniform. She looked like she hadn’t slept properly for days, and she was leaning against her spear as the sun-baked metal of her mail shirt weighed her down. She sent them a fleeting glance as they walked up to her, clearly barely even looking at them. “More refugees from the countryside?” “Actually, I’m a huntress.” Hood dug out the silver token she’d been given when she investigated the case of the skin-stealing wolf some months ago and handed it to the guard. “Oh, right. I have one of those too…” Ulrik said as he started rooting around in his pack. “You do? Since when do you have a hunter’s mark?” Hood asked curiously. “I got it when I turned in the heads of the two wolves that attacked my village at the bounty office.” Hood snorted. “And you accepted it? That’s pretty rich, given the circumstances.” “Well, what else was I going to do? I wanted to kill demons. Ah, here we go.” Ulrik pulled out a small silver token bearing a representation of his own face, as well as the words “U. A. Berg, Hunter of the Realm.” and handed it to the gate guard. The guard looked at the two tokens before handing them back with a tired shrug. “Well, I suppose we could use more hunters. Not that the ones that we’ve already got have done a lot of good so far.” She sighed deeply and made some sort of hand sign towards the gatehouse, and soon thereafter the gates started creaking open. “In you go. The royal family and their ministers have all barricaded themselves into the castle, but the magistrate and the captain of the guard will probably want to talk to you.” “We’ll go see them. Thank you.” The tired guardswoman nodded and waved them through, and with some trepidation they made their way into the city. To say the situation in the capital city seemed bleak would be a gross understatement. The streets were thick with tired, sick and hopeless people, and while none of them seemed to be starving it was evident that most of them were kept on fairly short rations. Tent cities housing vagrants and refugees had sprung up in every open square, and the alleyways were crammed full of makeshift shelters made from boxes, barrels and scraps of lumber. “This is just awful.” Ulrik remarked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Nor I.” Hood admitted. “I’ve seen cities under siege before, but most invading armies don’t drive the entire countryside before them as the go.” “Not even wolf armies?” “I’ve never seen an army of wolves before! Demons aren’t a cooperative lot by nature. They’re betrayers and oathbreakers and malcontents, even when dealing with their own kind. I can’t imagine the amount of time and effort it must have taken Old Fenris to cajole this many of his brethren to follow his lead.” “I thought he was their king?” “That just means none of the other demon nobility have managed to kill him and steal his title. The only power demons respect is strength.” “And Fenris is strong enough to command this many demons and get them to follow his orders?” “I didn’t think he was, but it seems like I might have been mistaken. It’s deeply troubling.” The two fell silent as Hood looked around for a stable that could take care of Lumpy for the time being. It wasn’t hard to find empty stable spaces, but it took her some time before she found someone she trusted to keep the fat little horse safe and well cared for. Especially since she had a sneaking suspicion things wouldn’t go well for many of the city’s horses if the food situation got any worse. Once the horse was stabled, and the stable master paid well in excess of what his services were actually worth, the two travellers set off towards the magistrate’s office. But they hadn’t gotten far when Hood stopped by the side of the road, looking down at a homeless man sitting propped up against a building. Judging by his smell and the state of his clothes, the man had been homeless long before the siege started. The recent troubles clearly hadn’t done him any favours, though, since he was as pale as a sheet and twitched and shivered where he sat, sweat pouring in a flood down his gaunt and weathered face. When he saw Hood standing over him, his eyes lit up in some sort of desperate hope. “Please miss, do you have any spirits or wine? Perhaps some ale? I’ve had nothing but boiled water for so long now…” Hood sighed and withdrew a clear bottle from her pack, handing it to the shaking man on the ground. “I can spare this much. Make it last, because it might be a while before you can get any more.” The man pulled the cork from the bottle and downed a large gulp of the spirits within. As soon as his shaking subsided a little, he turned to Hood to give her his thanks, but she had already walked off down the road, pulling Ulrik along with her as she went. “We need to do something, and soon.” She muttered under her breath. “This city is tearing itself apart.” Gaining entry to the magistrate’s office was as easy as showing the guard outside the door their silver tokens. The office itself was a large room full of towering bookshelves and endless stacks of scrolls and parchment. In the centre of the room was a large table, where a man and a woman in their fifties were arguing over a map of the city and the surrounding area. The man was a wispy, reedy sort almost drowning in his bulky magistrate’s robes, while the woman was stocky and well muscled, polished chain and dyed purple leather adhering to her body like a well-fitted suit. When the two of them completely failed to react, the guard cleared his throat and announced their presence. “Hunters of the realm Hood and Berg here to see you, Lord Magistrate, Captain.” The magistrate’s head snapped up so fast Hood could swear she heard a crack, his eyes scanning her with a look halfway between hope and suspicion. “Hood? Are you by any chance the legendary hunter of the north?” “You’ve heard of me, then?” “I’m the magistrate of the royal capital, Lady Huntress. I hear a lot of things.” “Well, I am she.” “You’ll forgive my initial suspicion. The descriptions of you I’ve heard said your eyes were blue, and I’ve never heard anything about your arm being made of silver.” “Demon hunting is a risky business at the best of times, Lord Magistrate, and these are not the best of times.” “Of course, of course. I must say, I’m very glad you’re here. These are troubling times, and it’s good to have a living legend fighting at our side.” “I’d imagine you’d be happy for any advantage at a time like this. I must say, in all my years of hunting I’ve never heard of demons laying siege to a town before.” The magistrate huffed in irritation. “If it was just a mere siege, that would be much less of a problem. The capital city is kept stocked to outlast six months of siege at all times. No, the problem is all the farmers and townsfolk that were driven into the city. Even on short rations, we’ve got a month or two at most before starvation becomes inevitable. We don’t have enough room to house all these people either, and the cramped, dirty conditions have led to disease running rampant. Nothing particularly lethal so far, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. And that isn’t even the worst of it…” “The unattended farms.” Ulrik suggested. “Exactly! Even if we can hold out for another month or two, the abandoned farms cannot. Harvests will be ruined. Animals will break free of their pastures and escape. If we cannot get these farmers back to their homes soon, we could well be facing a famine.” Hood frowned deeply. “I don’t like it. It’s like they’re trying to force our hand, but I’m not sure what they’re trying to make us do.” “That’s the conclusion we reached as well.” “What about the military? Can they do anything?” “Most of the troops are tied up in a border conflict in the far south, and the King’s Guard are all up fortifying the castle.” “No help there, then. Any word from the forts and garrisons around the area?” “None. There’s no way for us to get a message out to them. The wolves kill anyone we send out of the city. I’m not sure what they know of our predicament here, but by the time they realize we need outside help and mobilize it might well be too late.” “It seems like our first priority must be to somehow get a message out, then.” “I’m glad you agree. That’s exactly what I was arguing with Mila here about.” The captain of the guard looked up with a gruff expression on her face. “I told you I need every body we can get up on the walls. We can’t send them out on some hare-brained suicide mission.” “The demons have made no sign of attacking the wall, Captain. We can spare a few men for this. Besides, we have Hood on our side now. I’d say our chances of success have gone up by quite a bit.” Hood sighed and leaned in to look at the map spread across the table. “I just hope your faith in me will prove justified, Lady Magistrate. I might be a legendary demon hunter, as you say, but military action is hardly my specialty. However, we really don’t seem to have much of a choice. Let’s decide on a plan of attack.”