Chapter 17: Night of the Werewolf

 Chapter 17: Night of the Werewolf

I fell to the ground in the kitchen of the ruined farmhouse with a scream of pain. Paralyzed as I reached out with a trembling hand towards where I had seen the dark god before he had disappeared through his portal, for what reason, I was unsure, maybe to beg for mercy, or maybe to curse him. Horrible cramps erupted throughout my body as I started to shake and convulse, otherwise unable to move.

The effects of the transformation had started in full, and I was paralyzed by its effects. "Fel help me," I groaned, right before my jaw dislocated and prevented me from talking further. My voice had become an incoherent grunt as sharp fangs forced their way through my gums in multiple rows of razor cutting teeth.

For a moment, I saw the golden hue of the Wisp shining above me, but no answers came from my spirit guide. As I changed, so too did the wisp that was bonded to me. The flashing golden aura began to shift as the curse corrupted out into an ominous color of green rot that would briefly flash in a pulse of crimson. I knew then, even if Fel was unable to tell me, that the Wisp was going through its own painful metamorphosis.

The sounds of screaming shook the walls. I almost didn't recognize the source until I caught sight of myself in the reflection of the knife Atticus had died by, the reflection of a monster. The pain was intense as my bones and organs rapidly shifted, elongating as sinews were stretched passed their breaking point, and still, the change persisted as bones ground into dust and fur began to sprout. My skin began to blister and split while my fingers grew into claws and with the sheer intensity of the change, claws ripped into skin seeking relief from the pressure and horrible itching that couldn't be resisted.

The last of my humanity lay in bloody strips of flesh that lay in grisly piles all around me. The smell of iron was heavy in the air, and though the room was full of my own blood, it was not the scent I picked up. A sense of hungry desire fueled and dominate my thoughts as I stood up on my haunches and sniffed. My body tense with the new found power.

My transformation was finished, though I was unsure of Fel. The Wisp's aura had grown dark, no longer green or red, but completely black.

A furious growl reverberated throughout the room as I sped off running out of the kitchen and then through the front door on all fours. Moving faster than I had ever moved before. My body was acting on almost pure animal instict, attracted to the scent of blood in the air. It wasn't until later I realized the growl in the Farmhouse had been my own. mine.

My paws kicked up dust in my wake as I ran across the fields of the fallen, a skeletal hand of a rising undead tried to grab at my heels and bring me down, With a surge of effectless power, my jaws opened wide and dashed out in a vicious bite that destroyed the undead skeletons skull and part of its torse as my powerful jaws broke bones that splinted like dry kindling. The power of my body was beyond any monster.

Other undead rose up all around me, and while the human part of my brain worried, the animal part that was now the wolf salivated in excitement. A giant undead warrior stood before me, in its hands, it wielded a giant greatsword, easily the length of a man and still maintained most of its edge. In almost slow motion the sword came down in a trailing arc, but I was too fast.

Dashing forward with an outstretched arm that was covered in fur I grabbed ahold of the Skeletal Warriors skull and slammed it into the ground. For a moment I was surprised when the skull didn't break immediately, but the animal within me wasn't to be denied. I lifted the monster up by the skull and slammed it back into the ground over and over until a fault line appeared, and then I launched on with my paw and began to push the skull inwards until it snapped as the bones collapsed underneath me.

The skeleton's body collapsed into dust as it returned to the ground, the only signs that it had ever existed were the fragmented bits of its armor and a glowing symbol that marked the spot as cursed. That spot remarked Fel with a voice tinged with aggression, marks were a ghoul will spawn tomorrow night. Minions to serve your will. The words barely registered as I moved against the rest of the undead, and unlike the large warrior, they fell with one swipe of my claws.

One had even managed to pierce me in the back with a rusted sword, but even though the cut was deep, my body shrugged it off and healed as I pulled it out and turned on the skeleton and destroyed it. Once all the monsters had been quieted, I stopped amid that glowing field full of my mark and sniffed again.

A small herd of deer raced passed in a panic or at least tried to. The scent of their fear made me shiver and saliva dripped off my fangs. The hunger within me demanded I consume, and in a haze of red, I fell on one of them. Delicious agony followed as fang founds tore through the dying animal. In a moment of clarity and in a haze of red, I found myself looking over the managed corpse of the doe, and though I should have been disgusted, I wasn't. I only wanted more, and off I went into the night to hunt, leaving a trail of mangled bodies in my wake as I carved a path of lifeless destruction as I bounded towards the only smell that truly mattered.

Humans.