Sasha had outrun Elias at the market, and she was pretty proud of it. Furthermore, she saw no sign of the king nor the queen, so she was back on Isaak’s list. Clearing scumbags, growing strong, and get rid of that pain inside her. She hated the queen for dumping all of that raw magic inside her, and she hated Elias for encouraging her.

Denise had landed with her companions on the field in front of the church. They were all at the meeting place, the enemy lost for the moment. Sasha took one extra look behind her shoulder, but no one followed.

“That went well”, she said, walking towards her sister. “So Isaak, are we looking for a priest?”

“Hardly”, Ivy said. “But he likes to be keeping by himself. Creeps around in gravestones. He has been hanging around here all morning, probably just waiting for the night to enter.”

“Try to keep out of sight, will you?” Sasha said, looking at the bench where Ivy had been pointed. She holds her sister's hand, trying to soak up her calmness. The man on the bench was huge, his back towards her.

“You’re hurting?” Ivy said, taking a closer grip around Sasha’s hand.

“I’m cooping”, Sasha said. “Let's release some dark clouds, shall we? I can't wait.”

She reluctantly let go of Ivy’s hand. The magic knot in her stomach was growing tighter each minute. She had to release it or crawl back to Elias. The man on the bench didn’t have any chance.

“I hate to attack a man from behind”, Sasha said loudly, casually strolling up to the man. Her magic sword was well balanced in her hand.

“Then don’t.”

He didn’t even look up at her, far less turned around. Still, she could feel his awareness of her, the muscles tense and ready to sprint up from the wooden bench. His hair was long and brown. She stepped closer, scrutinizing him, he hadn’t shaved in days. Looking at his clothes he very well could be living at the churchyard. He looked like a dangerous opponent.

“I have come to fight you.” Sasha held her magic at a tight lech.

“It seems I have offended you”, the man said and rose.

She didn’t want to test the needles this time. The woman had screamed too loud. No, she wanted something more physical. An attack in close combat was really risky with an opponent such as him. But if she used her magic to drain him of his strength they would be equal. She hadn’t had good wrestling in a long time. Sasha made an outburst before any greetings. She put her sword close to the man's chin, she picked his sword at the same time.

“Now, with these out of the picture”, Sasha said and laid down the swords. “Let's play.”

The man just looked at her, obviously not taking her seriously. He couldn’t, he would never have let her ambush him, did he thought of her as a real threat. Sasha pulled the knot loose, letting the magic pour out of her fingers as she went to attack.

“If you don’t fight back I will end you in record time”, she tainted, bringing the man's hand twisted behind his back. She could have restrained him completely, but making him weaker would prove more efficient. The pain was as good as gone.

“You don’t know what you are doing. Step back”, the man said, easily breaking free although Sasha covered him in magic.

“Well, let's see, shall we?”

Something shone through his eyes then. He looked at her as if she was prey. Sasha smiled. Just bring it on.

He went for the throat, his fingers pushing hard. Sasha poured out magic, almost laughing at how good it felt to drain the knot. She had to twist and push real hard to break free and acknowledged his skills. Without her magic, she would have been doomed. Now she was just up for the rematch.

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They wrestled in the mud. Almost impossible to see where the brown ended and the black started. Her muscles were soared, all the training Isaak had put her through coming to use. She roared when she heard him scream out in pain.

“Don’t push me witch”, the man said.

Sasha punched him hard in the stomach, ducking for the fist he hit at her and coming up behind him. She kicked him in the knees, getting him down on the earth before he whipped her off the ground.

She bounced hard into the gravel, quickly rolling away from him. One inch later and he would have had the upper hand. She searched for her magic within, she used it to block his fist. The magic slowed down his punch with some seconds, which Sasha used to give him another punch in the stomach. The knot inside her started to loosen. All the magic that was in the outer layer of the knot suddenly flowed free and was easily available. Underneath it she felt magic so strong she forgot the man and got a hit square at her chin. She roared and threw some of it at him. She should just keep him at bay, instead, he flew backward as she twisted the elements to obey her. The wind had picked him up and let him crush towards the ground. It did look spectacular, unfortunately, she had no control of what she had done whatsoever.

It was time to end this. Sasha picked up her sword.

“You have a lot of killing on your hands.” Her magic sword was pulsating in red and white. Sasha tilted her head. “But so do I.”

She called back the power, smiling as the sword went from pulsating to shine in solid white. There was a nagging doubt in the back of her mind.

“Pick up your sword”, Sasha said, letting the man go.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

The man didn’t touch his sword, instead, he slowly moved backward. He was putting a distance between them, and Sasha knew he would soon make a run for it. It didn’t make sense.

“I am giving you a fair chance. Pick up your sword.”

“I don’t want to fight, my lady”, the man said. “Please just let us forget this ever happened?”

Sasha saw Isaak moving silently behind the man. He should, honestly speaking she was not sure she could hold her ground against the man in a fair fight, but she hadn’t aimed for a fair fight. She had aimed at restraining him and cutting him to pieces. The pulsating sword in her hand made her halt. Isaak was tilting his sword for a final blow. There was no stopping Isaak, he would go directly for the killing.

“Stop! I think we should spare this one”, Sasha yelled, interrupting Isaak and getting the man too frightened-looking backward just to have a sword pushed up his neck.

“I don’s spare what I don’t trust”, Isaak said, his sword still pointing at the man's neck.

“Well mister, you should listen to the lady”, the man tried. “You can trust me.”

“I’m gonna cut your tail”, Isaak spitted.

Denise started to whisk with her head then. She moved slowly forward, not that the man saw it, but Sasha saw the movement of the soil. Why couldn’t everyone stop interfering?

“Ask him why he goes bananas”, Denise whispered in Sasha’s ear.

“Ok, you got one chance to prove yourself”, Sasha said. “Tell us the truth of why you go crazy and we might spare you.”

The man twisted his hand, clearly looking very uncomfortable. the thought of the truth more disturbing than the sword pushing his neck.

“I can give you some extra push to make the right decision”, Isaak said, laying more heavily on his sword.

“Fine. I tell”, the man said, his shoulders slumping. “I was infected as a kid and have gone to every witch I know since. No one can cure it. Not even the queen.”

“Cure what?” Sasha asked. “This doesn’t explain anything.”

The man took two steps forwards, putting his palm up.

“I will not harm you”, he said, “but I will show.”

Then he started to transform. Slowly, his legs reduced in size, fur growing on his chest. He growled, a pained roar escaping his throat.

Sasha released some of the magic she had inside, restraining the figure in front of her, holding him tight in place.

“He is a werewolf”, Isaak stated. “That’s why all the killing.”

“You have gone maniac during the night of the moon”, Sasha guessed. “You poor thing.”

“An untrained werewolf is a real threat”, Isaak said. “Let's put him to sleep before he becomes a danger.”

“No”, Sasha said. She refused to kill something innocent. She couldn’t, she wanted to cuddle the man, comfort the young boy inside him. “The sword turned up white. He needs training. That’s all.”

“We haven’t seen werewolf’s in this area for centuries kitten. Who will train him?”

The wolf in front of them started to turn back to a human, his tail still between his legs.

“I will”, a whispering hiss was heard from nowhere. The man looked confused, turning his head towards Sasha.

“If we help you get control of your beast will you be loyal?”

“You don’t know what I have done”, the man said. “Who says I need saving?”

Ivy turned out of the shadows of Denise, making herself visible. She walked to the half-human man in front of her, like a small angel reaching out for a lion. Isaak snarled.

“I will need someone helping me make this country a better one. See this as an opportunity to pay back for your errors”, Ivy said giving the man the royal look. “Control the beast and train my soldiers.”

“Ivy”, Isaak protested. “Is this wise?”

“He is perfect, I couldn’t do better”, Ivy said.

Sasha hides her smile, Isaak looked as if he had been slapped in the face. The werewolf nodded his agreement.