When Hood drew closer to the town, she noticed some kind of crowd gathered in the square. She ran towards the centre of the commotion and saw a number of men and women sporting hastily bound injuries, as well as a twisted figure lying in a broken heap on the ground. The figure looked vaguely human, but his skin was covered in coarse grey fur, his hands and feet sported vicious claws and his face was twisted and misshapen. Judging by that face, Hood concluded he had never quite finished transforming. In a fluid movement, she lopped off the unfortunate man’s head and cleaned her blade on the tattered remains of his trousers. A shocked murmur rose from the crowd at her actions, and the magistrate bustled up, his brow shiny with sweat and his jowl wobbling unpleasantly, betraying his nervous shivers. “What was that for? He was already dead, surely?” “You’d be surprised what a wolfman can recover from. I suggest you burn the body as soon as possible. What happened here?” The magistrate took a few deep breaths to calm himself before telling his story. “Three of the missing villagers came back. They were shaky and incoherent and sported a number of vicious wounds, like they had been tortured. We were tending to them out in the square when the moon rose and…” He drew another deep breath and released it with a shudder. “By the gods, it was terrifying. They screamed like they were burning alive and their bodies started warping and changing. I swear I would have spewed at the sight of it were I not so terrified! And then they got up and attacked us with tooth and claw, like rabid animals. We killed one of them, but the other two ran off into the woods.” “They’ll be back. Wolfmen are always confused and slow witted as they’re transforming, but as soon as they gather their wits they’ll be back to hunt. Was anyone bitten?” His forehead creased in thought. “Only Mila here, I believe. The one we brought down latched on to her foot after we broke its legs.” He motioned towards a young woman who was nursing a shallow bleeding wound on her foot. It hadn’t penetrated far, probably being mostly halted by her shoe. “How long ago was this?” It was a vain hope, but with such a shallow wound so far from her heart… If the wound was recent enough, then maybe… “Fifteen minutes or so, I’d say. Why, is it bad?” Hood sighed sadly. “Much too late… I’d suggest taking her head off and burning her with the other one. It’s the kindest thing to do.” She tried not to wince as the young woman paled. “What?” The magistrate roared. “How could you say such a thing?” “The infection has long since reached her heart. When the moon comes up tomorrow, she’ll change like the rest.” “But… But…” The magistrate floundered. “Even if what you say is true, she’s not mad like those poor fellows who attacked us. Even if she does change, surely there must be something we could do. Lock her up on full moons or something…” “Sure, you could do that. You wouldn’t be the first. And if you’re lucky, the wolf will kill itself trying to escape its cage. If you’re not lucky, she’ll break free and you’ll all be dead or worse. Wiser men than you have tried to save a wolfman, and none of them have succeeded. Now, I’m trusting all of you to do what’s right. I’m heading out to kill the other two before they infect anyone else.” Without giving them time to reply, Hood turned around and ran to the woods, trying very hard to ignore the sobbing of the young woman she left behind. The light of the full moon seemed to give the old forest an eerie glow, and diminished her usually excellent night vision just enough to make the shadows deeper and darker than ever. She didn’t need her eyes, though. Not now. The strange, unsettling smell of wolfmen was in the air and the sheer wrongness of their curse felt like pinpricks against her skin. They were close. Unfortunately, so was Ulrik. She swore under her breath as she heard him coming up from behind. “I was hoping you’d stay behind and help the injured.” “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” “Apparently not. If you get bitten I’ll set you aflame myself.” “Thank you.” She smiled a little at his response. “Perhaps you have more sense than I… DOWN!” To his credit, Ulrik dropped to the ground without question, causing the wolfman who had lunged at him to fly over him with a surprised yelp. Without hesitation Hood spun around, delivering a vicious kick in the ribs to the other attacker who had been sneaking up behind her. The snap of cracking ribs resounded through the woods as the creature dropped down into an awkward four-legged gait. It looked a bit apelike; gangly with long, spindly arms and thick fur all over its body. But its head was like a wolf's save for the slightly flattened muzzle, and its paws sported long, sharp claws. Hood threw herself to the side as the beast lunged at her once more, one eye held on Ulrik’s battle with his own foe. He seemed to be holding his own against the creature, but who knew how long that would last. She was shaken out of her thoughts as a paw struck against her legs. It was a glancing blow, but the sharp, dirty claws still scored a line of thin, painful cuts. She kicked out, her hobnailed boots catching the creature on the snout, and she grinned a little vindictively as she heard the crunch of breaking teeth. She drew her sword in preparation for the next attack, and parried an incoming blow with the flat of her blade, not wanting it to catch in the creature’s arm. Pressing her advantage, she kneed the ugly creature in the throat and used its stunned wheeze to bring her sword down on its shoulder, the blow very nearly severing its arm entirely. She followed that up with a kick to its other arm, which brought the creature to the ground amid the sound of snapping bone, but before she could finish the beast off she saw the other wolfman deliver a mighty blow to Ulrik’s head, and he crumpled groaning to the ground. With a panicked yell, she abandoned her foe and charged off to aid the recumbent hunter. As the wolfman bent down to feast upon his stunned opponent, she slammed into it shoulder-first and bore it to the ground. As she grappled with the furious creature she had to pull on every ounce of demonic strength she could muster to hold off her much larger foe and keep his snapping jaws away from her. They rolled through the moonlit woods, both seeking to gain advantage over the other, but neither managing to deal more than a glancing blow or a bruise. Finally, Hood managed to manoeuvre the creature over a sharp rock and slam its head down, cracking its skull and dazing it. Taking her advantage, she took a hold of either side of its head and wrenched with all her might. She was rewarded by a crunching snap as the wolfman’s spine broke and he fell limp to the ground. It wasn’t enough to kill the beast, but it would take hours for it to heal enough to move it’s body again, and she intended to burn him to ash long before then. That was when she heard a rustling in the grass next to her and realized far too late that she had forgotten about the beast she’d left crippled. Before she could react it had closed its jaws over her right forearm, its teeth biting deeply into her flesh. With a pained roar she pulled one of the hidden knives out of her boot and slammed it so deep into the creature’s throat it glanced off the spine and came out on the other side of his neck, but the damage was done. She could feel the foreign demonic influence spreading through her veins, the curse burning like fire as it fought against her own tainted blood. If it reached her heart, it would be too late for her. She shook off the gasping, bleeding wolfman and got unsteadily to her feet. Quickly and viciously she brought her foot down on its chest with all the force she could muster, further fracturing its ribcage and driving the sharp bone shards into its heart and lungs. Trying her best to ignore the mind-numbing pain that shot up her arm whenever she moved, she just barely made it to Ulrik before collapsing. “Stop having a concussion and help me, damn you!” She bit out. Ulrik got up unsteadily and looked at her, his eyes slightly unfocused. “What… What happened?” “It bit me, and we don’t have much time. I need you to cut off my right arm at the shoulder.” “I… What? No! I can’t just…!” Hood bit back a cry as the searing pain started past her elbow, her own curse losing ground to the wolfman’s influence. “My arm or my head! Choose, but do it now!” Ulrik took a moment to clear his head before grabbing his axe. He hesitated for a moment, but a half-suppressed wail from hood seemed to be enough for him to make up his mind. He steeled himself and brought the axe down, severing the limb as close to the shoulder as he dared. Hood breathed out in relief, the burning pain of the invading curse having been replaced by the far less urgent pain of losing a limb and bleeding out. It wasn’t enough, though. She could feel the wolfman’s curse swirling around her, seeking a way in. “Do you still have that holy trinket of yours?” She bit out. “Well, yes, it’s right here…” Ulrik said, confusion evident in his voice as he dug the holy symbol out of his pocket. “Press it against my wound. Quickly.” “But won’t it burn you?” “Of course it will! That’s the point! Holy fire. It will keep the curse out. Do it, now!” Ulrik did as he was told, and had to avert his eyes as the flesh started to sear and sizzle against the metal, a sickening smell of burning meat quickly suffusing the air. Hood bit her tongue to force herself not to cry out as the pain spread throughout her body. Fighting through the blinding flashes of agony, she managed to bite out a few short words. “Keep… Pressing… Until it… Stops burning… Then take the… Wolfmen and… My arm and… Burn them all…” Ulrik nodded, trying very hard not to gag as the smell of charred flesh became overwhelming. Seeing that he understood, Hood stopped fighting and let the pain overwhelm her, suffering through endless moments of blinding, boiling, burning agony until finally sweet oblivion rode in like a gentle saviour and she lost consciousness.