“No, seriously. What the fuck was that?” Cinera’s awestruck expression finally began to soften after a few seconds of surprise.

“Um, it was a werewolf, I think? But it was glowing a bit and looked much, much bigger than I think they are supposed to be.” She started walking towards him to take a look behind him.

Egosum looked down at the tracks the monster left behind and felt a shiver run down his back as he stared at the imprint. His entire body would fit inside the cavity with ease.

“Well, that is seriously unnerving. Do you think that was the beastman or something?” He turned to her to get her opinion.

“No….probably not. I am not too sure, to be honest. I haven’t seen one before and if that is how all of them looked then we wouldn’t be on a multispecies planet right now. They would have eaten us already.” She looked down at the footprint with interest as she digested the event.

Coyotl sat to the side with wide bleary eyes as he slowly recovered from the traumatic event.

“Let's follow the prints to wherever they lead. We might find its camp or cave or whatever a werewolf uses to sleep." He took one hop forward before Cinera stopped him.

“Uh, no. We should not do that. We are lucky it didn't just eat us and you want to follow behind at its feet. That is lunacy. We aren’t doing that.” She held her ground and refused to move. Coyotl stood to the side, unsure of whose side to take.

“Please, just trust me on this. I have a really good feeling. I am certain of it. Have I ever been wrong before?” He looked her in the eye to firmly get his intent across.

“Probably, I have only known you for a few days. How could I know that?" She seemed distraught at the question before finally acquiescing to his plea. “Fine, but if this blows up in our faces, I am so talking shit to you.”

With the group deciding on their next action, they walked forward along the trail the monster left in the underbrush. The large prints carried on for what felt like miles as they inspected their surroundings as they traveled.

The forest became increasingly strange as they followed it. The trees took on a light blue glow and the smaller plants turned leggy and leafless.

The sun above them dimmed as they traveled deeper tracking the hidden beast.

The footprints became increasingly messier and less easy to follow. The creature looked to have increased its pace, almost like it was chasing something that they could not find any signs of.

The blue glow finally clicked into place for Egosum as he stared at a particularly large tree that stood to the side. They were surrounded by incredibly dense moon mana that had been slightly altered by the vegetation that surrounded them.

The tracers that followed his vision as he looked around reminded him of the wisps that flowed in the wake of the creature they were tracking.

The trio continued deeper into the mana-soaked forest as the only light available to him turned into the glow the trees provided. He looked up to the sky when the canopy broke and saw the sun in the dimmest state he could ever remember seeing.

The odd tree stump with axe marks came into view, letting some of the weedy plants grow in the underbrush, juxtaposed against the completely blue areas.

The silence of the group permeated the forest as no other noises intruded on their tense trek. It was becoming more and more unnerving as the time dragged on for hours.

The random noise of a distant slam of something heavy hitting the ground was the only source of noise.

The constant state of uncertainty and mottled silence finally stopped when the footprints suddenly changed.

Egosum looked down at the massive paw prints and followed them forward with his eyes as they shrunk from larger than him to half his size in only a few steps.

“What do you make of this?” He turned to Cinera as she made her way forward.

“I am not too sure. It looks like it is shrinking a lot, but I don't really know anything about werewolves. Do you?”

“Not at all. I only heard them mentioned in passing since they don’t really go out of their way to bother anyone.” They looked back and forth between each other and the tracks before continuing on.

The journey was quiet for a few more minutes when the tracks finally reached a well-traveled trail, and they disappeared on the packed earth.

The tension rose as the possibilities expanded regarding what they might be walking into.

They followed the trail along the side and finally stopped as the sounds of activity stole their attention away. They snuck ahead low to the ground and finally found the source of the noise.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Before them stood a small village made of tents and small buildings with similar construction to the orcs. Only a dozen of the structures littered the small clearing with a few other structures that he could not recognize.

A few figures moved around the area as they watched on with interest.

They had light grey fur and appeared to be humanoids with lupine heads. Their eyes glowed slightly in the mana that filled the area. They washed clothes in wooden buckets and went about their lives, unaware of the onlookers dissecting their actions.

The trio looked amongst themselves, unsure of what to do now that they had found the location the werewolf had fled to.

“I told you I had a good feeling about this.” He bobbed his head as he looked over the encampment.

“I don't know. I thought you had an idea. Should we even be talking right now?” They both looked back to the clearing and blanked at the sight that stared back.

Specifically, half a dozen beastmen were glaring straight at them in their hiding place. The clearing broke into motion only a second later.

Before the three amphibians could even move a muscle, they were surrounded on all sides with growling balls of fur that leaked bloodlust like a fresh spring.

“Hello, how are you?” The question seemed to fall on deaf ears as the people surrounding them looked at each other in uncertainty. The crude wooden weapons were pointed to their skulls as they stood watching over the trio.

“Do you speak common?” His question finally received a response as another beastman walked up from behind them to take charge of the hairy situation.

“We do. We just don’t know what to make of you three.” The beastman looked to be an older woman in her final years of life given the hard conditions they appeared to be living in.

The grey fur that covered her body was thinner than any of the others by a large margin and the hunch she walked with was more pronounced than anyone else he had seen beyond Quetinctol.

“That is very simple. I am Egosum, mage of Quintelous’ holdings and savior of the northern elves.” He inflated his chest with confidence as the surrounding beastmen stared with even more unhidden confusion.

“That means very little to us. We haven't seen an elf in these parts for decades and frogs like you are usually saved for food which leads me to my next point. What should we do with you now that you walked into our camp?” She stopped her advance a few feet from the huddled formation as they watched their every move.

“Well, that is quite the important thing to note. I hope you haven’t eaten any intelligent amphibians recently. That might turn us into enemies.” As the words left his mouth, the beastmen tensed up in fear of a possible fight breaking out between them all.

“Oh, relax you oafs. Look at the things. They aren’t any more of a threat than a bad gust of wind.” She lowered the small wooden stick she used to move around and fully supported herself on it as the encirclement inched back and looked to the leader.

“No, we haven't even met a talking frog before today. What about your friends? Can they talk as well?” She nodded her head in their direction and waited for a response.

Egosum looked back at his crew and urged them to speak up to the crowd.

“I am Cinera mage of the Embermount lava field and fifth of her name.” She stepped forward slightly and bowed her head in elegance. The two amphibians turned to look at their final friend and began to speak up.

“That is Coyotl. He doesn’t know common ye-” Egosums explanation was cut short as an ear-piercing beep left his large mouth.

“Meep!” The surrounding beastmen flinched back as the noise pounded into their ears like a verifiable sonic attack. The old lady was the only one to show no reaction.

“As you can hear, he is very loud, but he stays quiet most of the time. Only really speaks up when he is nervous or the like.”

“I am Morgal, the matriarch of this small village. Now, what do you want?” Her tone showed no room for anything other than an answer to her question.

“We followed the tracks of one of your people back here after they found us in the forest. I heard that you are taking the fight back to the humans and I would be happy to join in for a while to help bring the war to their steps.” He walked forward a few steps to exit their poor hiding place and exposed himself to the group.

The old woman seemed to snarl more and more as he spoke. He was unsure if he should continue or not as she finally stopped her signs of displeasure.

“You came to the wrong place then. It is just the hunters that want to reclaim some land from the humans. The rest of us just want to live in the twilight forest away from conflict.”

She turned away from them and began to walk away before coming to a halt.

“Who did you see in the woods?” She asked the question very quietly as she glanced back to him.

“My friend described them as a werewolf, but I didn’t get to see them.” He tried to continue on, but the old lady cut him off.

“God damn it!” She turned to the side and screamed at the top of her lungs towards one of the tenets that sat near the edge. “Thunkar, get out here right now!”

A few seconds of silence slowly washed over the town as they waited for the person to show themselves.

The leather flap to the tent slowly opened up and a small silver beastman slinked out into the open, withering under the stares of all those present.

“Yes, Grammy?” The tone of voice was more appropriate for a freshly hatched tadpole, rather than a hulking beast of war.

“No way.” Egosum refused to believe this was the same person who had just scared his companions into a frozen state and sent chills up his spine.

“Oh, hello froggies.” The beast boy walked up to his grandmother and turned his head up to look at her.

“Did you transform earlier today? You better not lie.” Her strict tone sent his ears back and his head hunched down.

“No, I didn’t.” His quiet speech ended with a light hit from the older woman.

“I literally said not to lie. They saw you and you just said hello as if you knew them.” She glared him down into the ground with frustration blatant on her features.

“I am sorry grammy.” His words came out barely audible as he apologized.

The two started to walk away from them when Egosum finally spoke up.

“Can we at least stay for a few days and ask some questions? I promise we will stay out of the way.”

“Fine, but don’t expect us to go out and start a war we don’t even want to be a part of. Oh, and don’t let your friend scream again. That was loud to even me and I’m mostly half deaf.”

The amphibians looked amongst themselves and the rapidly dispersing beastman.

“I was not expecting that.”