I laid back on my porch dreading over my lack of alcohol and smoking items. It wouldn’t have been such a big problem any other time, but I just completed a large project and despite my frequent feasts I still needed suppressants. I didn’t want to go and pester my neighbor, so my options were to make my own or go to a human settlement. Alcohol took time to make but I did know how to speed up the process and I could probably make my own herbal mix, but I still wanted to observe the humans out of curiosity. I had located a settlement a couple of days away as the crow flies when I connected to the forest. Interestingly, the settlement was deep within the forest. I got up and did a good stretch before strolling off the porch and into the woods

As I walked the trees warped around me and in an instant, I had traveled several miles. That’s the great thing about mixing the spirit realm and this one, it gives me the ability to alter space itself. After a few of these alterations, I had arrived close to the town, but I wasn’t just going to walk in without doing some preliminary research though. I took to the trees and began to watch all activity, which is very limited since it’s the dead of night. The city was a decent size but not that big with a large wall composed of logs. There were around ten houses made of wood and mud, large enough to fit a family of four with some room to spare, and two large community homes that would probably fit around ten people each.

There was also a large barn with several animals and what looks like a few shops and mills. The housing area and the work area were divided by a large central road which was big enough to fit five people shoulder to shoulder. All in all, it looks like an efficient and defensive setup, but defensive against what is the question. Two night watchmen lounged around a large stone and iron gate, the only stone construct, and a couple of guards patrolled the wall on the inside. With either crossbows or bows with a sword and shield. Their clothing didn’t look sufficient for the freezing climate but still probably had a decent defense. The watchmen on the other hand were dressed in chainmail and metal helmets with bows and spears.

I slipped from the trees and approached the wall unseen to see If there were any hints about what it was made to keep out, and after a very short moment I found scares marring its surface. Claw marks, small and thin but many in number, looks like an animal problem. On closer inspection I found some fur wedged in some bark, I gave it a sniff and found that it smells distinctly feline. Now that I think about it the claw marks resembled those of a cat trying to climb something. I grabbed the small tuft of hair and infused it with magic before telling it to find its owner. It promptly flew out of my hand and flouted on an unseen gust of magic. It drifted with decent speed and lead me deep into the forest before taking a sudden turn into a valley and that is where I saw what the fur belonged to.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

A large pile of bones and rotting bodies laid bathed in moonlight and insects. From one of the more intact bodies, I saw that they looked like leopards on the smaller side with large elongated heads and conspicuous manes of black hair. My mouth watered at the sight of a large pile of unused bones and I jumped down to take a closer look. There were almost a hundred almost intact skeletons which I began to pick through with gusto. I wanted to decorate my neck of the woods for a while, but I had no materials to do so. I didn’t want to decimate the local population of animals, so I settled on just carving the trees with runes and pictures. I still wanted more though.

As I rolled around the pile of my new decorations, I heard an unamusing cackle echo throughout the night. It almost sounded like a hyena to me. Getting up with some reluctance I stalked the sound until the source slowly came into sight. Around a small fire sat two yellow-eyed men and a large hyena sitting beside a large pull cart. Meh, not my problem, turning back I went to return when I caught a whiff of tobacco and herbs. Now, it was my problem. I willed myself to change into one of my usual forms and walked into the light of the fire.

POV shift---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My brothers and I lounged around our fire throwing some jokes and partaking in some gambling as we waited for the sun to rise. The stupid humans and their day-loving sleep cycle. They won't even let us in for the night until the sun rose. My brother on cart watch throughout a joke I missed but the other got and apparently thought It was hilarious. To be honest, everything was funny for us. I took a puff from a cigar from the south and took a swig of wine from the west, it’s a miserable night because of these absolutely frigid temperatures.

As I was about to toss out a joke of my own, I saw my brother on cart watch suddenly freeze while looking at the forest behind me. I cackled out of nervousness only to hear it repeated behind me. My eyes widened in fear and I snapped my head around to find a large bony coyote. I gave a laugh out of fear and turned to see if my brother was seeing this. He, unfortunately, hadn’t noticed so I went to alert him, but a low cackle made me stop, unnoticed by me the coyote had appeared right beside me and was gazing intently into the fire.