Fenris and I  took off as fast as we could towards Burke, much to the suprise of some of the people at the gates, and in line on the road. We didn't have to slow down at any point, but lets be honest, if someone was riding an armored wolf the size of a horse, would you try to stop them? No? Yeah, good idea. Judging by the map I purchased, Burke was about three weeks of walking from Junction City. But, we weren't walking. We ran without rest, without pause.  Not that we needed to anyways, we've both consumed enough bio-material to fuel our bodies for quite some time.

Wait. Do we even need to eat? I assume we do, cuase' we're alive and all things eat. Meh, I'll find out if I'm ever starving.

It took us a week to get to Burke, going around the tiny farming settlements along the way, the village stockade was a welcome sight.  Though the absence of people working the feilds around the village was a bit discerning. Heck, there wasn't even a guard at the gate!  In fact the gate wasn't even open. Locked and barred. I know because I gave it a push. Lets try the other gate, if the have one.

Damn. They locked this one too. This is not cool.

'Over the the wall, Fenris.' I said, jumping on to the logs. I climbed over the top as Fenris leaped onto the wall, the sounds of wood being sratched and torn was all I heard when I dropped to the ground. Fenris toppling down next to me.

'Guess only cats land on all four. Huh, Fenris?' I said jokingly.

'Tsk. If I was running I would have cleared it in one go.' He thought to me.

'Sure, sure. Now how about we find the villagers.' I thought. I used my hunters sense, tuning it to find humans instead of a unique strands, and...... There they are.  Hiding in the inn, most are on the first floor. But it seems that the children are upstairs, with some larger signals by all the windows. Lookouts most likely. We made our way towards the inn, the quiet streets were unnerving. As soon as we neared the inn the was movement in the building, a few seconds later Fenris was shot at with three arrows. Two hit him, one in the shoulder, the other in the side of his chest. I caught the third, it was heading for his head. There goes first impressions, these guys are not cool.

I walked to the door of the inn, and kicked the door in, not at full force mind you. I didn't really want to kill anyone in the room, as they weren't the ones who shot Fenris, but a show of strength was rarely a bad move. The door flew into the room, splintering the door frame, before crashing into some overturned tables. They had used them as a barricade of sorts, and they did stop the door from killing anyone outright. One unlucky fellow was hit with the top of the door after the table flipped it, though he didn't die from it.

The room was quiet as I entered the room, screams were heard as Fenris walked in.  In a panicky fashion the grabbed their weapons and pointed them towards us threatenly. 

"Lower you weapons people, we are here to help. Besides, your previous attempts weren't successful." I said pointing at the arrow in his side as I dropped the two i had on the floor. As they were looking towards Fenris, he grabbed the arrow from his chest with his mouth, and snapped it in two in front of them. Now I see why he wanted me to leave it in earlier.

"Now if your done being stupid, I need to speak with someone about a quest that was posted about some wolves near the village. Is there anyone who could help with that?" I asked politely. Fenris just stood next to me staring at the people in the room.

"You from the Junction City Guild?" a scrawny man asked. Wow, this guy could use a few meals. He must be in the low 100s weight wise.

"You are?" I asked.

"I'm William, the villages acting chief, the previous chief was killed by the wolves three days ago." William said nervously.

"Well, Chief William, I am Alec, thats Fenris, and we're here about the wolves. Is there anything you could tell us about them that would helpful?" I asked.

"Well, for the most part the wolves are normal armoured wolves, but if the alpha is near they start to glow and become berserkers. It doesn't matter if you stab them over and over again, they still fight you unless its an immediately fatal wound. And that just makes the others madder!" William said shakingly. He must of tried fighting them at one point. It sounds like some kind of rabbies or a controlled release of pheromones, causing an induced rage state. How interesting.

"What about their behavior?  How often do they attack? What do they attack first? " I asked.

"They used to attack only at night, taking some of the livestock until we ran out. Then the hunters stopped coming back, so we gathered a group together with some adventurers. At the time it was a simple wolve nuisance, we thought if we put up enough of a fight they'd go find easier prey elsewhere. Only two boys came back, one we lost to his injuries, the other ran to the Guild to upgrade the quest and get assistance. We haven't seen him since.

Now that the livestock was gone, and we stopped going into the woods, they've been coming to us, dragging anyone they can out of the village. After the first night we started hiding in here, not that it helped all that much, they stil attack us. But its easier to defend ourselves here, now we were just waiting to run out of food and starve, or for help to come. As for who the attack first, well just about whoever they find first.  They aren't that picky with there being so few of us now." William answered.

"Which direction to the come from? If possible I'd like to engage them outside of the village." I said.

"Why? It'll be easier to wait for them here." William asked, confused at my plan.

"I don't want to worry about one of you shooting Fenris by mistake. And if your not near the fight, I won't have to protect you." I answered. From the looks of the faces in the room, they didn't like my way of thinking. Oh, that reminds me.

"One last question. Is the payment for this already with the Guild?" I asked. If its not them fuck these guys.

"Yes, we sent it to them when the guest was changed, and they usaully come from the eastern side of the woods." William answered.

"Thanks. I'll let you know when they're dead." I said walking out of the inn. Fenris and I head towards the eastern woods, after which we split up, both of us using hunters sense to track them. We stayed in range of eachother just in case. After a few hours of circling the town we came up with nothing. I figured the wolves would have come back by now, but it seems like they aren't hungry yet. I guess it time for plan B.....

I sat in a house across the road and to the left of the inn, waiting for the pack to arrive. Fenris was likewise hiding in the attic of a nearby house on the right side of the inn. The way I figured it, if the pack was going to come back for more food, the villagers, then I would have a better chance staying here than roaming around the woods. It might not be moraly right to use humans as bait, but I never promised to protect them and they might as well be sheep to me.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The villagers never noticed me for the past few hours I've been hiding. They correctly chose to remain inside, content to wait for me to bring good news or until the wolves killed them. Wasn't sure which option they were betting on, but it looks like they'll find out soon.  The wolves were coming. They didn't howl, bark, yip, or make any discernable noises actually. I only know they were here thanks to hunters sense. I would be in a tight spot if I was human.

Fenris and I remained motionless, as they leaped over the wall, the light thud sound was barely heard with my hightened senses. There were 14 of them in the village, and I couldn't sense anymore on the way, so this must be all of them. But when I looked at the leader, he glowed bright, a indication of good material. When he and the others began moving towards the inn, I got a good look at them. The wolves appeared to be of the normal variety, but the leader was a bit bigger. Not as big as Fenris, but still larger than the others. He also had streaks of red fur down his back, and on his face.  They moved around the inn slowly, queitly looking at the windows or the sentries in them. They stayed in the shadows until the had encircled the building.

Since they were in a dispersed fashion, I ended up having one near me. The other side of the window I was hiding by actually. He did't notice me, so I guess when we want to remain hidden, we don't even let a smell escape our bodies. Good to know. They hadn't moved in yet, which meant they or the alpha had some degree of intelect. I think it is the latter option, because the other wolves are starting to get twitchy and restless.. They're behaving like a drug addict who's next fix is right in front of him, but has been told not to touch it. I don't think it'll be long before they make their move, so I should make mine soon.

I was right, a few minutes later the wolves bolted towards the inn, the sentries fired a few arrows once they noticed the noise. Caught by suprise, most of the arrows missed, of the few that hit them, only one was lucky or skilled enough to peirce the head and kill the wolf. The rest of the villigers, now alerted to the threats closing in, began screaming and forming a hasty defense. The wolves would soon be in the building, so now was my chance.

Not all the wolves went towards the inn, four including the alpha remained outside waiting, like the others were fodder, testing the village resitance.I shifted to claws,and I cleaved the wolf near the window, his head and some of his torso were turned into meat chunks. Fenris leapt through the roof he was hiding in, landing near two wolves who were trying to leap into the inn. The noise drew the attention of the wolves on the right side, they moved towards him in their increasingly frenzied state, but not before he ripped the two near him to peices. He eviscerated one with his claws, very little remained except its head and the front of its body, the rest painted the ground and walls with gore. Fenris bit the other wolf's head off.

The alpha growled at Fenris, before he and seven other wolves began trying to surround Fenris. The villagers were still fighting the three wolves who had managed to get in the inn. I smelled human blood so it probably wasn't going well inside. I ran towards the alpha, before I got there he spotted me, and two wolves turned towards me. He howled, as the red streaks of fur began to glow, a hazy feild sorrounded him before rushing out and disappearing. The effects were immediate, the other wolves eyes became red and dilated, foam and spit dripped from snarling mounths, and they began being more aggressive. They began attacking Fenis viciously, even when it wasn't smart to. Fenris met their rage with a primal ferocity, ripping them to shreds, it didn't matter what they treid to do to him, his muscle tissue, flesh and his armored plate were far stronger than the damage they could do. So they tried, the ones that weren't attacking blindly, to cripple him, biting at legs, paws, his snout or his eyes. If they manged to hurt him he just healed up and absorbed or killed them in turn.

While he was fighting, the two wolves in front of me had charged at me. One leapt at me while the other went to the side, trying to flank me when I was knocked down. I slashed down at the airborne wolf, then I spun my body around, and brought my leg down on the other wolfs head. Both were dead before they knew it. My obstacles cleared, I rushed towards the alpha, who after seeing myself and Fenris murder his pack left and right, was visibly enraged. He looked to be mostly red now, the glow staying with him instead of dispersing, his body was being pumped with so much adrenaline I doubted it was going to be okay afterwards. Good thing there wasn't going to be an 'afterwards' to worry about.

He and I rushed each other while Fenris cleaned up the other wolves. I was about to engage him when a wolf landed on my back, shortly after it latched its teeth into my shoulder, shattering my collar bone. Pain coursed through my body. The alpha rushed closer to me, so when he was seconds away, I used my full strength to hockey check the alpha with his pack mate. The impact of my sudden movement and the alphas drug fueled charge, crushed the wolf on my shoulder. The impact didn't slow the alpha down but for a second, before it was lunging at me again.

I punched his the chest, the damage wasn't fatal in his state, but it created space between us. I checked on Fenris in the second I had for the alpha to get up. He had killed the last wolf around him and moved to the inn. The villagers were suprised when a wolf broke through the wall and grabbed the wolf that had them cornered, in its mouth before shaking it like a chew toy. Its body, broken and snapped in odd angles was soon thrown against wall. Fenris then waited for me in front of the villagers.

Sorry man, but its time to end this. The alpha lunged towards me again, I side stepped and grabbed its thoat, throwing it to the ground. With its back on the ground, I crushed its throat and snapped its head off , before I absorbed its body. (If the head removal is confusing you watch or play the game. You'll notice when he consumes things other than humanoids, not all of the body is absorbed.) Its mass joined mine with the usual sounds of mushed fleshed. The familiar rush of energy as I gained a new mutation. Not as powerful as when I got the claws, but more power none the less. Mmm...Delicious genetics. Exactly what a growing parasite needs. Now, lets see what I got now. Hmm. I was right earlier, the alphas ability was a pheromone that rendered those exposed with a berserker like state of being. Fenris or any other evolved wouldn't be affected, dispite his original dna, because of our mutative disposition.

But I wonder if I could affect anything exposed to it or would it only work on something I've absorbed before? ( If he consumed them its cells know their dna structure allowing for changes to the pheromone to work on that specific dna) An idea came to me when I walked into the inn. I could test it on the villagers that were left. If it worked I got a new toy, if not I felt like they might just be enough to get my sheild. Fenris caught my line of thought, and he left the inn, he would make sure no one escaped.

"Thank you, young man! Thank yo- " William was saying before he noticed me glowing. A second later I relaesed the pheromone. William and a few of the villagers that had approached me with him, immediatly began acting strange. Scratching at themselves, twitching erraticaly their eyes rolled back as they started foaming at the mouth. Huh. Human rabies, who'd have thought.

They began to attack each other and seeing the test was a success, I  stabbed William with my now clawed hand. before I consumed him and did the same for the others near me. The other villagers were shocked but they quickly recovered, those with weapons rush to me, others went for the children hiding upstairs, two went for any exit they could find. I commended their bravery, but it was for naught. I moved from one to another, slashing stabbing, or cleaving as I absobed without pause. It reminded me of raiding military bases back home, way easier but close enough. The villagers offered little resistance , but the few that went towards the children had got some of them out through the windows and onto the roof awning. A good plan, if you could stall me long enough. Too bad that wasn't happening....

I took no pleasure in consuming the last villager, the ones that tried to flee were women and children, so I did my work as painlessly as possible. Making it quick, and quiet. I normally wouldn't do this, but I need that power, and I figured a small number of people was an acceptable sacrifice. I am having to save their world you know. After beheading the alpha and a few of its unconsumed pack mates, Fenris and I ran towards Junction City. A dead and bloody village left behind us.