Werewolf IV

No human could survive in these parts. Marion was sure of it, as even the wildlife grew sparse. A mountain range came into view in the distance, black as the trees, the earth, the sky... everything was rotten around here.

As the full moon kept creeping closer and his third transformation since being summoned loomed over him, the voice urged him to go back.

There must be some humans left! Come on, there's nothing worth gnawing on around here! Please, go back! It had never urged him like that before. Marion grinned as he took note of that first. Just... make sure to avoid those shadows.

Marion nodded at that last remark.

He also didn't want to meet them again.

Never did he think that the existence of such strange creatures was possible... Marion even began to doubt that he was in his own world, still.

Everything about this place was strange...

This black land, where he feared being poisoned by the water and all food tasted rotten, was the same.

You won't have much fun tonight, he mused, listening to the beast's angry snarls. I wonder what you will attack tonight. Trees? The river? Or will you dig a hole in the ground?

Just you laugh. I'll find some flesh around here, the beast barked back, sounding angry.

I can't wait to look at this night, Marion taunted for the last time as the first silver rays of light peeked over the mountains, causing a change in his physiology to occur...

It transformed faster that night.

The beast was angry with its host for retreating to such a desolate location. The most Marion would find here was some rotten-tasting fish and animals...

Sniff. Sniff.

Humans?

The beast couldn't believe it.

Closer to the mountains, along with the smell of machinery, steam, and oil, was the smell of humans.

There are humans here?

The beast was elated as it noticed another smell, closing in from random directions. What were the other werewolves doing here?

Did they run in the same direction as he did?

Why were there so many?

The beast stopped thinking about pointless stuff as it realized that its food was on the line here! It had to reach those humans first so that it could bite and taste all of them!

It howled at the moon.

For some reason, it sounded like a mix between a wolf and a snake, as if he hissed while howling. It also noticed that two of its teeth were longer than before.

They pressed into his jaw while his mouth was closed.

Marion shook his head, then ran ahead, to the humans. He was faster than ever before, almost gliding through the forest.

He heard his kin howling back just behind him, a few hundred in total, maybe a thousand.

But Marion was faster.

He reached strange walls made of black stone, which he shattered easily in his wake. A few surprised humans screamed in terror as he sunk his teeth into them.

Oh, the sweet smell of blood!

Marion was in a state of elation.

Nothing could scare him after those shadows!

A few humans with their weak weapons couldn't do a thing against him, anyway. Marion plowed through them with ease, biting through their cold steel-suits as if they were silk.

The mountains were closer, now.

Standing right in front of it like this made Marion realize that it wasn't a mountain range at all, but a wall.

Tiny creatures, presumably humans, from the smell, walked around on top, and sharp sticks kept flying in his direction.

They were easily repelled by Marion's fur, but if they met open flesh, they dug deep.

It hurt.

Deciding that these stick-throwers must be the first ones to go, he sprinted to the wall. The closer he got, the more soldiers got in his way and even more ran down the stairs attached to the wall, moving to meet him in the streets.

Behind him, another wall of soldiers had formed, caging him in.

Marion stopped biting everyone.

He had to get out of here!

He threw his claws all around him, spinning while slicing open row after row of bodies, going limp and crashing to the ground.

It wasn't enough.

Spears, arrows, and swords met with his body, and while he sizzled and healed as best as he could, he noticed that he was getting light-headed now.

Suddenly, he heard a howl.

Then another, and countless more.

The humans turned with fear in their eyes as a thousand werewolves overran their outer wall, defeating them as if they were militia met with knights on horses.

Marion took this chance to put some distance between him and the wall, and he joined his brethren in roaming the streets.

The humans did their best to fight back.

While continuously raining arrows from the wall and the stairs going up to it, men with huge shields confronted them in the streets, pairing up with long spears, striking at them when the chance arose.

They also positioned themselves on the roofs of buildings, and in places with fires, holding the werewolves at bay.

Some died...

... but for every werewolf they killed, a hundred humans lost their lives, and soon, they had to retreat.

"Secure the walls!" one of them commanded before a werewolf ate him.

"Don't let them through!" another yelled, desperately trying to keep his men rallied.

They lost morale...

They lost their ground...

The werewolves wouldn't let them rest.

With howls of their assured victory, they ran forward, chasing them to the wall. It was made of the same dark stone as the smaller walls had been, only thicker.

A strange purple light glowed from within, getting weaker as more humans died.

Marion ignored this strange phenomenon as his claw crashed through a pillar holding the wooden stairs to the side of the wall up.

A chain reaction sent the whole thing tumbling down, and many more humans died.

Marion took his time to bite into each and every one of them, savoring their taste, awaiting their awakening with glee...

"Don't let them-!"

BOOM!

Every human and every werewolf looked at the wall in unison.

The feast was forgotten, the war on hold. Something terrible happened, and Marion's hair stood on edge.

He took careful steps away from the wall, as deep cracks appeared in it.

It was hundreds of feet tall, and still, something smashed against it from the other side, forcing the wall to give way.

The strange glow was all but gone.

Ominous noises echoed through the city as the wall broke down, sending debris flying through the city, crushing humans and werewolves alike.

Many little bodies swarmed through, no larger than humans, attacking everything in sight.

At that moment, even the beast understood that the humans' screams of 'Don't let them through!' weren't meant for the werewolves.

Whatever these creatures were, he knew that they spelled trouble.

Soon the wave was upon him, and his claw met with something like flesh, but also like slime.

Marion didn't like this sensation.

A second later, he was buried alive.

Werewolves didn't fight among themselves.

It wouldn't be worth it.

Humans didn't bite them.

That wasn't what they did.

These things looked so similar to the humans he knew that Marion would've mistaken them for a strangely-colored people... if not for the smell.

If the forest smelled like rot, these things smelled like death.

They sunk their teeth into him, losing them in the process, but they mindlessly kept on attacking Marion with their nails, protruding bones from their leathery-skinned bodies, as well as kicks and punches.

While he wouldn't call them strong, the sheer size of this swarm overwhelmed him.

He tried to howl through the bodies, but blood dripped into his mouth, thick and disgusting. He wouldn't bite these creatures.

Once even the light was gone from above, his body slowly being torn to shreds, Marion suddenly found himself on top of the pile.

He didn't know what had happened, but it felt like he got small like a liquid and found even the tiniest crevices to get out of there.

His confusion lasted only a second before he extended his claws back at the creatures.

Torn-off limbs crawled back to scratch him, heads he separated from the bodies turned on the ground, desperate to glare at him with lust and hunger until the end. Holes in their stomach, their chest, their heads wouldn't stop them.

For the first time in its life, the beast was afraid.

It ran away.

This was no place to be.

While he fled to the forest, the wounds on Marion's body sizzling in the moonlight, he noticed the fate of his peers.

The death-smelling humans would gang up on them, killing them, then take their distance in a circle to watch as... they stood up once more, howling at the moon.

Marion shivered.

Their howl sounded more akin to the gurgling of acid, and the same smell of death enveloped them now.

Their eyes were dead but found Marion nonetheless.

He quickened his pace.

His superior hearing caught the last screams of the other werewolves behind him, unable to see how outmatched they were...

Now that he thought about it, why could he sense it?

He had more control over his body than usual.

Was it truly the beast moving this body... or was it Marion?

Then he reached the trees.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he felt a tug on his mind, telling him to dive down the shadows. It was too strong to suppress, and while the beast braced itself for the impact... it sunk into it as if the shadows were deep puddles of a black liquid.

Instinctually, Marion knew that he could escape faster through these shadows, that he had a chance!

That was until something forcefully punched him out of the safety.

He looked around him, wondering what had happened... then he saw it. A human-like creature smelling of death and blood, a cocky grin on its damaged face. One of its cheeks was torn off, and a bone poked out of its elbow. Some of its fingers missed pieces, and he had something that looked like burnt skin all over his body.

It wore clothes like a human's, looking centuries-old and torn to shreds.

"No getting away from me, furry beast," it said in a mix of rasping and gurgling. "I have to thank you and your friends for attacking tonight. We waited for a chance like this since the wall was crafted... but well, who am I telling all of this? You will be dead in a moment. Half-dead, that is." The creature shrugged. "The specifics are unimportant."

In a flash, it was upon him, biting hard on his shoulder, which was protected by fur... and he bit right through it.

Marion howled in pain, slashing back at the thing.

It evaded the attack with ease, grinning as it lunged forward again. This time, it took a bite of Marion's leg, then his other arm, then his neck.

"Not so fast!" Marion screamed, sticking his claws out the next time the creature lunged forward. The claws impaled its head but broke off in the process. "I won't die tonight."

It chuckled, pulling the claws out of its face.

"It has already started. Look at your body." Marion looked. It still sizzled, but he felt his consciousness slip away, being lost in the ether... NO! "You are surrounded."

It was true.

The forest was full of the swarming creatures and werewolves, joining them in their cause. It looked hopeless, but Marion wouldn't give in!

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" the beast promised, enveloping its body in shadows.

It felt wings on its back and the strength to rival gods surging through its body.

Even the creature grew wary.

They clashed again, their strikes splitting the earth. The two were evenly matched now, which frustrated both of them.

Just as they were about to go at it again...

"STOP WITH THIS NONSENSE!"

Everything seemed to stop.

Even the creature...

What was this feeling?

Marion couldn't move.