David stepped out of the portal and into the alley. Nathan’s wand of create portal was calibrated to open one far away from any life signatures, but close enough to them that one would not end up opening a portal under a mile of seawater or in the middle of a desert wasteland. This time, it chose an alley nestled in the downtown area of a sleepy little town that had not seen much activity for at least two decades.

At least, that’s what David assumed as the portal closed behind him. Having never been to whatever town this was, or even to this world, he had no real idea. The town could be quite large, for all he knew. However, he could not hear a lot of noise. No sounds of rapidly rushing cars or lots of talking people. Cloud cover obscured the sky over his head, but it was light enough he could tell it was mid to late afternoon. The alley smelled like furniture store refuse, broken antiques, spilled cheap wine, and the faint smell of multiple animals.

Multiple animals, yes. Nathan gave him a brief briefing over what to expect here. A world of mixed humans and….well, not anthros. They were animals, but had the intelligence of humans. A little strange, but not unknown to him. He encountered creatures like them before. Here, apparently, they could drive vehicles and run businesses and were generally treated well. From what he understood, the number of humans in this world was relatively small. They kept to their own isolated communities and did not mix very often with the sentient wildlife. This prospect might be to David’s advantage. If someone did not have a very well-defined sense of what a human was, they were less likely to think he was unusual.

Even if not completely unusual here, he would stay out of the way as much as possible. He typically tried to keep a low profile as it helped him avoid trouble. He would blend in, only mixing when needed. He had a few nondescript gold coins he could trade for money in this world. High profile items to sell, but still less noticeable than stealing for food, not that David would do that anyway. It helped even more if his target did not know he was here, if the bear was here at all. While he doubted the bear had enlisted the help of anyone, being more of a solitary mage type, he might have eyes and ears in places. The impression he got of him from stumbling upon his cabin led him to believe he might be able to ply forest creatures or less scrupulous fae folk to do his bidding.

The cabin. David remembered. It happened years ago. He was walking through the hundreds of acres of forest between two small towns, Mangrove Falls and Lepley. Between pursuits, he was hunting. The deer were in rut with all the carelessness that characterized the mindset, so it would be easy to get fresh meat. A group of fairies approached him while out and beckoned him to follow. This happened from time to time and usually led him to something important. Though he did not speak their language, he knew they had something to say. They led him to a shack deep inside of the forest, far away from anywhere that anthros hiked, camped, or even traveled through. The area where the forest was thickest and so far out of the way no one could find it unless they were looking for it. In David’s experience, this was by design. People like the bear could make it so anyone walking through the forest would get turned around when approaching their home. Without even knowing it, the magic would guide them away from it.

David, being mostly immune to magic, was unaffected. Added to this, he was being led by creatures that knew the forest well. Even though he was not looking for the cabin, he would find it. They parted ways with him as he approached it. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, ones his adopted mother read to him as a child from time to time. A rustic cabin made of wood with a shingled roof. A cobblestone chimney came out of the roof. It was surrounded by a lush garden with a number of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. In a way, it was rather beautiful, if he had an eye for such things.

The inside was far less beautiful. The smell hit him the moment he approached the door. Blood. Entrails. Fear. Magical contamination. It swirled into a reek that filled him with righteous anger. He took stock of his surroundings, noting the large furniture inside to accommodate a bulky frame, checking for danger, and getting a feel for where the scent came from. All of this happened in seconds, nearly automatically. Whoever was in there was big and dangerous. Time to act.

After kicking in the door, he rushed toward the source. He stepped inside, did another threat assessment, and honed in on the smell of blood and depravity. It led him into the main room of the cabin. A nice room, laid out like a sitting room with a large, open floor, a few chairs, and an end table or two. All wooden, all hand carved. It was the sort of room one would entertain guests.

That was where he found the first body. She was laying on the floor, a wolf with fluffy white fur. She was dressed oddly for someone in the middle of the forest; a black knee length skirt, black suit jacket, and white blouse. Not a hiker, likely someone just passing through the nearest town on the way to a larger city. Someone brought her here, that was certain. Her clothing was torn and stained with blood. Throat ripped out, abdomen torn open, most of her intestines were missing. Her eyes were bright blue, open and staring at the ceiling. Whatever killed her terrified her. No blood was pooled under the body. She was not killed in this room. The body had been moved from elsewhere.

He continued to explore the cabin. Another room had a massive bed and a closet full of robes and oversized ballet costumes. An odd mix, but not much surprised David anymore. The blood drew most of his attention. It was splashed all over the dirt floor. Why the floor in the other room was hardwood but the floor in what was clearly a bedroom was dirt escaped David, but it might have had something to do with the murderer’s powers. Strange, nonsensical things tended to be.

The basement held more bodies. At least a half dozen more bodies. He followed the scent down to it. All of them were women. All of them were torn, maimed, and partially eaten. He could see the bite marks around the ragged chunks of flesh torn from the bones. Red muscle and white bone underneath of bloodstained fur. They were all typical forest creatures, all of which’s feral counterparts were meat eaters. Their faces were all twisted into looks of horror, mouths open in a last scream as their assailant descended on them. Who knew how long he played with them until their demise? Some of the bodies were partially buried in the dirt. They were not buried on purpose, but seemed to be slowly sinking into the earth.

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By that time, David was eager to spill guilty blood. His anger burned in him with the intensity of a forest fire. But, his nose told him the perpetrator was not there. The scent of the victims was strong, but the bear’s had faded over time. Yes, a bear. The musk was unmistakable. He could smell it as he searched the cabin. The robes in the closet, hung so neatly, reeked of it. The entire closet smelled of magical corruption and depravity, especially some of the more ridiculous articles. The belongings of a sick person who viewed all of those women as toys.

The presence of bodies, especially the one in the sitting room, suggested he left in a hurry. He must have noticed the fairies watching him. They scared him off; at least a week ago judging by the fading scent. Smart of him, even though he had no way of knowing what was coming for him. He attempted to find any trace of where he went, some clue. Nothing indicating any direction or anywhere he could start looking.

All he found were spell components and strange plants. Lots of odd flowers, fruits, vines, and desiccated organs and small animals in jars of murky fluid. He found books and scrolls made of aged parchment bound in foul smelling leather in languages he could not read. All of that was useless to him. The only thing even remotely helpful he found was a pile of papers inside of one of the drawers in the bear’s bedroom. They were a collection of drawings, portraits of the bear most likely drawn by himself. Despite having the appearance of charcoal and pastels, the marks did not smudge when David passed a finger over them. It took someone very vain to do their self portraits in enchanted pigments. He chose the least depraved image of the lot. It was a picture of a tall bear in a green robe standing in the forest amongst a variety of fruit trees. He rolled it up and stuck it in his backpack. This was not a monster he wanted to forget.

It was lucky he saved it. He spent several days attempting to track the bear down back then, but came up with nothing. Now, he had his chance. David remembered the faces of his victims. Their faces twisted and eyes staring at the horror closing in on them. He would bring justice to Kiam. He had a name to go with the picture in his backpack. The wanted poster shown to him had an unmistakable likeness to him, as did the listed crimes. He would find him. There would be no escape this time. That familiar sense of justice crept up into him, making his blood burn with thoughts of vengeance. Time to be a hero.

“Hey you! Stop! Thief! Thief!” In the distance, David heard shouting.

He raised an eyebrow. Someone needed help. Unrelated victim, unrelated villain, but worth his time. He looked up at the nearest building. Three stories tall. He could climb that easily enough. With agility uncharacteristic of a man his size, David leapt up the side of the building. He put his hands wherever he could get a firm grip, mostly window ledges and hanging eaves. He was on the roof and slinked toward the edge nearest to the source of the screaming.

Running down the sidewalk was a lynx with mostly typical fur coloration. He was unusual in that his headfur was colored red. His only clothing was a red bandana wrapped around his neck. It took David a moment to realize that he was not really indecent in terms of clothing. In this world, the ferals were sentient and clothing rules a lot looser. He had a cash box dangling from his mouth by the handle. Far behind them, a raccoon darted out of a shop called ‘Terry’s Harmonica Repair and Musical Sundries’. The raccoon ran after him, but had no hope of catching up. The lynx was already far ahead and getting farther away.

David grunted. Greedy idiot. Stealing was wrong. The police would certainly not get there in time to stop him. That cash box probably held someone’s livelihood. The bear could wait for just a moment. The gray man had more than enough time to stop this.

He watched the lynx turn down a corner to another street, then another. David followed along by leaping from roof to roof. Always stepping lightly, his feet barely made any sound as he crossed the rooftops. He saw the lynx looking back. Confident he lost the raccoon, he turned into an alley. Good. Somewhere out of the way.

The lynx set down the cashbox and slipped deeper into the alley. He opened it briefly, smirked at his ill-gotten loot, and looked back outward to make sure he was not followed. He paid so close attention to the outside of the alley he did not notice as David jumped down behind him. He flexed his feet as he landed to soften the sound. His massive weight only made a pair of soft taps when they hit the pavement. In the past, someone asked him how he did that. A few someones. He never had an answer. It came naturally to him, just like punishing evil.

A petty thief, did he deserve death? No, no, of course not. But, he needed to be stopped. This was not the first time he stole, David was sure of it. The gray man would make sure it was his last. The lynx did not even know he was there. His small tail wagged as he glanced again at the cashbox, confident he eluded justice.

Do not let him see you, David. Get him. David lunged. In a fluid motion, he shot from the shadows like a shark surfacing from placid waters. He grabbed the lynx by the neck. All he had time to do was yip and drop the cash box as David hefted him into the air. He gasped and squirmed for a second or two, eyes and limbs pinwheeling to simultaneously see and fight what caught him. Only a second or two before David flung him into the pavement. The lynx’s body made a meaty thwack as it collided with the asphalt so hard that he bounced. All of the breath left his lungs. When he tried to breath in, his body spasmed at the unexpected pain. He gasped like a fish out of water, eyes clenched shut.

David knew that look. Multiple broken ribs. Good. He was not going anywhere. But, the ribs would heal. He had to make sure the lynx would be physically unable to do this again. He approached the fallen thief. He watched the big cat’s limbs twitch as he tried to get up. What David had to do next made perfect sense. He brought up a foot and slammed it down on his left hind leg. It landed directly on the knee. The joint snapped like a twig, leg bowing inward. David felt the bones give as his heavy blow pulverized it. Even with surgery, it would never heal properly. He would limp for the rest of his life. No more running from those he victimized.

That woke the lynx up. He raised his head and let out an ear-piercing yowl that echoed off of the alley walls. His eyes went wide, but David was standing behind him well enough that he only got a glimpse of him. It was enough. The cat tried to turn his head, pupil’s dilating in fear as he saw the big, gray shape that just maimed him.

Say something so he knows why this happened. Teach him not to do it again, hero. “Do not steal.” David growled. The lynx whimpered. Good enough.

David moved back into the shadows, letting them hide him again so he could climb up the wall. Back to the rooftops. That scream would bring the cops faster than anything and he did not want to be present for that. The lynx would not steal again. At least, not successfully. He had metal pins and rods holding to hold the knee together to look forward to. He would limp for the rest of his life. No more running from those he victimized.

It felt good to already make a difference in this world, but this was not why David was here. He had to find the bear. He had no idea where to start looking, but he would find out. Find the forests where people are going missing and go from there.