The Slayer allowed Vero to guide him as they ventured into the woods. The underbrush was not especially thick and they kept a good pace, though she was routinely forced to stop and wait for the old man to catch up. Vero always felt a thrill on a hunt, but the effects of the ritual to sharpen her senses had given this thrill a primal edge, leaving her practically mad with anticipation when she had to wait for her master.

At last, Vero could tell that they were drawing near their target. The stench of the thing was almost overpowering. Ahead of them was a small clearing surrounding an entrance to a cave.

She brought her master up short. “It’s inside.”

“A den. We’ll go inside, but be careful. If a native pack of wolves is in the area, they may have accepted the beast man as their alpha. If that has happened, then it will be necessary to contend with them as well.”

Faintly, the sound of wailing could be heard inside.

Vero nodded and readied the first silver bolt in her crossbow. Her master drew his sword and held it with both hands. Although her blood called out to her to lead the charge, Vero assumed a deferential position behind her master as they entered the monster’s lair.

Immediately inside the cave a pile of old bones and scraps littered the floor. Her master bent down to examine the remains.

“A pack of wolves certainly did reside here, but the beast seems to have killed them.” Something about the bones seemed to be troubling him.

“Surely that makes our job easier, master.”

“Yes and no. We won’t have to divide our attention. However, it suggests that this thing is so wild and uncontrollable that even the simple social structure of the wolf pack is impossible for it to maintain. It may be beyond even the basic instinct for self-preservation. Be prepared for it to rush you in a berserker rage, giving no thought to the defense of its own body as it attacks. Remains don't look torn apart like the work of a loup garou though. There may be more going on here then we know. Be on your guard.”

“Yes, master.”

The pair continued forward through twists and turns while the passage became very cramped. The sound of wailing continued to grow louder, until they reached the back of the cave which opened into a large chamber with a fire pit in the middle of it. There were barrels and chests along the walls, dozens of them. The contents were closed inside, but Vero thought the whole matter reeked of a smuggling den.

On the far side of the fire was a young man, in torn shreds of what once may have been clothing. It was the lad who had led them to Phillipe’s home in the village, and beside him was the alderman himself.

It was from the young man that the wailing emerged, and at that moment Vero knew him to be the moon beast. She pointed towards him with her weapon and made sure her master observed her doing so. Phillipe stood over the monster with a hand on its shoulder attempting to quiet it. The beast continued to lament and took no notice of them.

It was the village elder who spoke to them as they came near. “Have you found what you are looking for, slayer?”

Despite the heavy derision in the alderman’s voice, Vero’s master did not bat an eye. “Indeed. Your hesitation at hiring me certainly makes more sense now. At first, I’d thought you were just a greedy pig. You should know the lad grows ever more bestial. Soon he won’t even be able to recognize his uncle- or his partner…” Then a thought struck her master and he smirked. “Or his paramour.”

Phillipe was affronted, but only for a moment as his face slid into a look of solemn resignation. “Oh, what does it matter now? Yes, we were lovers.”

“You wouldn’t have been here if you weren’t involved in this up to the neck. How did the boy become cursed?”

“It was that witch who did this to him. She’s the one who laid the curse.”

“The priestess? But not without reason I expect. He had something to do with her disappearance, I’m sure.”

The alderman nodded. “She discovered us together. Whether by some foul work of divination or by simple eavesdropping, I don’t know. She was snooping for this place, I’m certain. Though finding us together served her just as well. She demanded, she demanded,” he emphasized this last phrase, “-that we reveal ourselves to the village or she would do so herself. We couldn’t very well just give in to her threats.”

“We? So, you both conspired to have this priestess done away with?”

Now Phillipe looked offended in earnest. “You cannot seriously believe I would risk my position by doing something so foolish. I’ve never been married, and I made no secret of the fact that I haven’t the slightest interest in women. No one in the village had ever been troubled by the fact in the past.”

“No, but perhaps they would not be so understanding towards a young man who lets himself be used as a woman by his rich old uncle? Is that what I am to believe? Or maybe an old robber of a village alderman simply saw an opportunity to rid himself of a meddling priestess who became too curious how he afforded himself such a fine house.”

Phillipe began to pace back and forth as he relived his outrage. “Michel fell into such a rage that he killed her on the spot. There was nothing I could do to stop him, though I dare to say that even if I could have, I may still have stayed my hand. It was nothing less than the whore deserved.”

“The villagers claimed she had gone missing, so you must have hidden the body.”

“That very night,” Phillipe confirmed.

“Under a clear sky no doubt, and so your crimes were revealed plainly before the goddess. Or perhaps the priestess levied a curse on you directly with her dying breath; such things do have great power. If you guided his hand or not, the results are the same. And we have a contract to fulfill.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Vero’s master readied his weapon, and she put her finger to the trigger of her own.

Realizing the full weight of the situation, the alderman became suddenly frantic, searching for some way clear of his troubles. “You know ancient magic, master slayer. Surely there is some cure for his condition.”

“Of course, there is. It may be ended as any other divine curse, by making proper restitution to the offended deity. But his crime-” Vero’s master indicated the still wailing beast. “-is that of murder. And so only the toll of blood vengeance will lift the goddess’ wrath towards this village. A life for a life. We must bind him in silver chains this night and the next, or else provide two more victims to sate his bloodlust. Then under the sign of Luna the Matron, waxing or waning will do, we may offer the life of his family’s patriarch as a willing sacrifice to appease her. You’re my employer, is that the course we shall take?”

The alderman made some noncommittal noise and pulled a face as though he was embarrassed, but said nothing.

“I thought not. If cutting you down here and now would cure the lad then I would do so in a heartbeat. Alas, it would not. I have no silver chains, and the goddess would never accept an unwilling sacrifice- no matter how personally satisfying I might find it to run you through. So, it seems only one other solution remains. Stand aside or I cannot guarantee your safety.”

“I can pay you twice the amount we agreed. Please just go.”

The alderman was clearly floundering. Regardless, it was this final comment with caused her master to truly show his wrath.

“I have been given a contract and taken it before witnesses! A slayer’s honor is not yet so cheap as to break his word and leave a village of innocent people to the depredations of one of the very monsters I have sworn an oath before all the gods to hunt! Stand aside now or I cut through you!”

“No!” The young man leapt to his feet, and before their eyes his body began to alter and shift. Fur sprouted across his frame as his muscles bulged and grew. Hands and feet twisted into claws, and his once human face transformed into a slavering wolf’s maw. Yet still, Phillipe moved to interpose himself between the Slayer and the monster.

Vero was all but ignored. She used the opportunity to slink aside as the two combatants began to circle around each other. Both were, as of yet, unwilling to cut down Phillipe, who stood between them. Unnoticed, she waited until she had a clear shot at the monster.

She loosed a silver bolt directly into the creature’s back.

The loup garou howled in rage and moved to leap at her, knocking its protector off to the side as it did so. Expertly, her master sidestepped and brought down his blade along the thing’s side as it turned away from him in its haste to strike at Vero. She had fallen backwards from the suddenness of the attack on her. Fortunately, her master’s blow had brought the monster up short, and turned its attention back onto himself.

Vero hurriedly pulled herself to her feet and clumsily tried to load the next silver bolt into the crossbow. Her hands betrayed her as the excitement caused them to shake, and the bolt fumbled out of place. The ritual had turned her nerves into a storm of animal instincts, and she longed to leap into the fray directly with her bare hands to fight using tooth and nail.

The monster raged, but the Slayer maintained his wits and danced around its blows in a way that seemed effortless. Vero knew that it was not so. Her master was not attacking; every bit of his concentration was dedicated to keeping out of reach of the beast’s claws. He knew he had the thing’s attention and was waiting for Vero to fire her next bolt.

Vero stilled her emotions and readied the crossbow again. As she raised it, she saw the alderman was back on his feet. She tried to shout a warning, but it was too late. Phillipe grabbed her master from behind with a clumsy and uncertain waist lock.

It was all the edge the monster needed. A slash of its claws left a ragged gash which ran the length of her master’s belly.

Vero fired another bolt which hit the monster at the base of the spine. Even with his injuries, her master took advantage of the distraction. He pulled a dagger out from his belt and drove it into the alderman’s leg. Phillipe screamed and released his grip. Once he was free, her master sprung forward in a leap that looked more like a fall, to slash the loup garou across the chest.

The creature howled, but rather than attack again, it chose discretion as the better part of valor and broke towards the exit of the cave. Vero followed. She reloaded and fired her last silver bolt to hit the monster just over the shoulder a moment before it rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

Vero felt something knock against her foot and looked down to see her master’s enchanted blade. He slid it across the floor to her from where he lay. Phillipe had followed him to the ground and the pair grappled with one another. It took her aback and she spent a moment gawking.

“Damnit girl- wits about you!... After it!” Her master’s breath had become wheezing.

“But what about-”

“I can handle one old fool- Gods’ sake!... Kill that thing!”

Vero turned her attention away from where the two men fought, picked up the sword, and chased after the beast. She believed that it was her master who had gained the dominant position when they finished jockeying for control, but she could not be sure.

Although it was already out of sight Vero could still sense the creature ahead of her. The monster led her out of the cave and through the forest. The scent began to grow weaker and weaker, but from the trail of blood left behind, it was clear that the wolf man would not be able to maintain the pace for long. The wounds had been inflicted with silver- they would fester, boil, and refuse to heal.

At last, the scent began to grow stronger again, and it was clear that the monster had stopped. Vero came upon it sitting on the rock beside a stream which ran down a small waterfall just beyond them. The monster had its back turned to her and was preoccupied prying the silver bolts from his body. The wounds had already turned swollen and angry.

Vero attempted to approach unnoticed, but evidently the stealth working she had placed herself under had begun to lose its effectiveness. She was a few feet away when the monster turned to face her.

Quickly she threw all her force into a single blow aimed at hacking off the thing’s head, but it shifted its arms defensively just in time. Vero sliced cleanly through its left arm, but the movement was sufficient to redirect the blade into the monster’s shoulder, where she felt it shudder to a stop against the thing’s collar bone.

Vero tried to dislodge the weapon, but found it stuck fast. She had to release her hold to leap back and avoid a swipe from the creature’s one remaining claw.

The monster was uninterested in continuing to press the attack and turned to flee with the sword still inside it. Vero could only imagine the punishment her master would inflict if she managed to lose his enchanted weapon. So, heedless of the danger, she charged after the monster unarmed.

The beast’s pace was slow and ungainly. Vero maintained a speed with it easily as they splashed into the water. It came to her mind that they were very near the edge of the waterfall, but only dimly. The rest of her cognition was dedicated to the thrill of battle.

The creature slowed to turn and see if she still pursued him. This was this moment of hesitation Vero needed. She leapt and grabbed ahold of the sword’s grip, then clung to it as desperately as she could.

The monster began to twist away from her violently. At first the weapon remained stuck, sending Vero forward and off her balance. Then all at once the weapon came free with a sound of snapping of bone and tendon.

The beast roared in utter agony, but Vero had no time to appreciate it. Stumbling forward on the slick mossy stones, she found herself face down in the water and was carried along by the current. She tried to regain her feet, then the ground vanished beneath her. She fell, and a knock on the head deprived her of consciousness.