The wagon creaked and jumped as it moved over the cobblestones of the small town near Nexeternus. The town was unsettlingly quiet, the usual sounds of human life where much lower in volume, almost as if they where wary of drawing to much attention to themselves...
The werewolves knew this to be the work of the nearby Vampire fortress, but the three of them didn't speak much either, the oppressive atmosphere engulfing them.
The three of them where hungry...They hadn't eaten much on the way to Nexeternus, and the dark cravings for human flesh where pulling at their guts. They needed to feed.
Müller pulled the reigns on the cart and ask one of the townsfolk directions to the closest pub or inn. The man looked curiously at the trio, but didn't ask any questions as he directed them.
"This is unnatural." said Völundr in general about the place.
"Can you smell it?" said Hati, taking a long smell of the air for emphasis. "Fear, dread...hopelessness..."
"Behold the world under the thrall of the Vampire." Said Müller sarcastically. "They drain more than blood from the mortal world."
"Are we any better?" said Völundr.
"No." Agreed Müller "But we are different."
He stopped the Wagon at the Inn and tied the horse securely.
"Right, we meet back here at dark?"
Said Müller, and the other two nodded.
"Good hunting."
Völundr gripped the hammer at his side nervously, glaceing at the people around him. He was soooo hungry, and their flesh tempted him. His mouth began to salivate as the smell of ripe human flesh filled his senses.
He shook it off.
He had never been able to fully justify the craving for human flesh he felt, the curse of his condition. At times he could still see their faces when he slept...the faces of those he had devoured.
Müller had once joked that the reason he slept so much was because he was trying to make piece with his victims. Perhaps he was right. All Völundr knew was that he had to eat soon or risk going into the berserk frenzy of starvation.
He moved toward the poorer district of the town, watching as the people became more and more...unwholesome. This would be his banquet, a cornucopia of the dregs of humanity, from which he would lose little sleep from devouring.
Völundr noticed two men standing outside an alleyway and stopped to observe. He could tell that some sort of transaction was going on. He sniffed the air and the smell of various narcotics filled his nostrils. He watched as the man buying placed the wrapped up substances in a pocket and walked off.
Now or never.
Völundr started walking casually towards the Dealer, glaceing up the street. To many people.
"Hey, I hear your the man to talk to about some Weird Root?" said Völundr, making sure to keep his hands out of his pockets and away from his hammer.
"Tha's right, how much you need?" Said the Dealer, casting a wary glance at Völundr.
"I'll take it all." He said, slapping a hand on his pocket for the Dealer to hear the sound of coins rattling. "But why don't we take it in there?" He pointed inside the alleyway.
"Sure, but you better be good for it." Said the Dealer, turning his back on Völundr for an instant and taking a step into the darkness.
That was all the opening he needed.
With one quick motion Völundr stabbed a knife into the back of the mans neck, just bellow the skull. It was instant death, a mercy killing he had practiced before.
He dragged the body back farther into the alleyway, and ripped the shirt off. With one deft stroke he oppened the mans stomach and started peeling strips of flesh, taking the still warm and wet meat in his mouth. The hunger was on him now and he dropped the knife, reaching into the body cavity with his hands he started to remove whole organs and devour them, staining his mouth red.
A small sound interrupted his feeding frenzy, brought him back to earth. He turned and looked into the darkness of the alleyway to his right.
Cringing against the wall, was a small child. Dressed in filthy clothes, a look of horror was plastered across its dirty face.
The eyes...those horror struck eyes. The same eyes Völundr had seen countless times before in his victims.
The werewolf grabbed the mans torn clothes and wiped the blood from his hands and mouth. He stood and walked from the alleyway, another pair of eyes burned into his conscience....
"Please boys, please! One at a time!" said Hati, giggling. She sat on a bench on the sidewalk of the street, a group of men standing around her.
Sitting alone, she had easily been able to attract a group of admirers. Several where older gentlemen, bearing obvious artifacts of wealth, while others where younger but poorer.
"Ah, but milady, you must accompany me to the theater! I promise it shall be an unforgettable experience."
Said one of the older gentlemen, his suave mustache quivering. Not to be outdone, the other men began clambering for her attention, promising gifts and undying affections.
So easy... she thought No matter how many centuries go by, men are always the same, so easily swayed by a pretty face and the bat of an eyelash. Once you learn the ways to hunt them it becomes...pathetic...
It was then that she caught sight of the most beautiful person standing across the street.
It was a young woman, finely dressed with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes. She stood alone, looking rather bored. Hati smiled to herself.
Yes...women...much more challenging prey.
"If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I must go and meet my husband before he begins to fret to much." She said before standing and walking away.
As expected, that was more than enough to disperse the gaggle of suitors. Typical.
She didnt go strait across to the woman, instead she moved down the street and then crossed it, coming up from behind her. Going directly for her would have been a mistake only a new hunter would make. Hati had more than enough experience to know how to woe other women...
First, to get her attention.
She bumped slightly into the woman, faking a slip on the cobblestones.
"Oh, please excuse me madam, I'm terribly sorry!" She said, watching her tone of voice to ensure it was completely believable.
"Oh no, that's quite alright, these streets can become quite slick."
And now the crucial moment, that first glance that will steal them away. Time to turn on the charms...
And Hati turned on the charms, that almost irresistible allure and charm she possessed. It was the built up experience of hundreds of years of hunting for prey by seduction, and she had refined it into an art.
The glance of an eye, a slight of posture, leaning forward just enough, the tone of her voice, all these where weapons in her vast arsenal.
"Oh no, it most certainly is not alright! I must make it up to you madam!" She said.
The woman looked at her, and with that look, Hati knew she had her in her power now.
"I know a perfect little place, at least let me buy you a cup of tea for recompense madam!" said Hati.
"Well...I suppose." said the woman.
Got you.
They walked together to the tea shop, and after a few more deft words from Hati they where chatting like they had been friends for years. The woman's name was Eleonore Dieter and she was the daughter of one of the local merchants. She had simply been wasting time looking for something to do when Hati had found her.
The two sat outside drinking tea for awhile, still talking. Hati was finding it more and more boring, but patience was a skill every hunter learned eventually and she had long ago mastered it. Haste could and would ruin everything.
Finally, the opportunity came.
"My this heat is almost unbearable." said Eleonore, waving herself with one of those collapsible fans the nobility where wont to use.
"Well, I know the perfect place for a swim, its a lake not far at all from here, perfectly secluded."
Said Hati, again tapping into that near preternatural skill and experience.
Perfectly secluded....
"Your quite sure its alright?" ask Eleonore, casting a wary glance around the trees surrounding the lake.
"Oh yes, its quite fine. I come her often and never see anyone around." Said Hati, already undressing.
"Well, if you say so." Said Eleonore.
Hati moved slowly into the lake, enjoying the cool water. She turned back to look at Eleonore as she heard splashing.
She couldn't help but lick her lips as she observed her nude form.
Positively...delicious...
Eleonore, for her part starred at Hati's chest. Slightly confused at her staring, Hati cast a glance at her own chest.
"What is it?" she ask Eleonore.
"Those..." She said tentatively, blushing as she pointed.
Hati laughed in realization. Both of her nipples where pierced with studs in the shape of crescent moons. She had to keep them in or the skin would heal itself
"Oh yes, what about them?"
"They must have hurt terribly..." said Eleonore.
"Not really, its common in Norsca."
The two girls lay on the soft grass letting the sun dry them.
"You know, I think we're going to be great friends." Said Eleonore.
Hati propped herself up on one arm and ran the other one through Eleonore's hair.
She let her charm drop, and a glimmer of her intentions pass through her eyes.
This is it...the moment where they realize...so succulent.
"Yes...we could have made good friends..."
Before Eleonore had time to say anything more Hati's jaws closed around her throat.
Her corpse would remain unidentified, even her gender unknown from the damage the Werewolf inflected on her body.
"Eleonore, O' Eleonore, how sweat though art Eleonore." Said Hati, tearing into her heart.
Müller smelt the air.
Blood, piss, fear, excitement, and anger.
He listened to the wind.
Dogs barking, men shouting.
He had been following his leads for awhile now, and he could tell he was close. He was in the shit-district (as he liked to call it) of the town, where all the riffraff made their dens. He had been wandering the maze of alleyways and street corners, searching for the place he knew every town harbored.
As he passed another alleyway, he found what he was looking for.
Men where crowded around in a circle, yelling and waving bags of coins. Several had large dogs held on thick chains, they stood outside the group. Others had bats, clubs and more chains.
As Müller walked towards them, the men let out a huge cheer, while some made sounds of distress. The circle parted and he could see a dog, covered in blood being dragged out of the circle.
The cent of blood, fear and anger was overwhelming his senses, hazing his mind.
The men dragged the beaten animal away from the dog ring and brought out a large club.
The sound of the beaten dog's skull being smashed cut through Müller's haze like a razorblades through paper.
His pulse quickened and his teeth clenched.
The sounds of more dogs mauling each other and the men cheering them on was drowned out, until another defeated and bloodied animal was dragged from the death-pit.
"Damn useless mut!"
Said its owner, kicking the animal and dragging it back through the alley towards Müller.
The werewolf reached out a hand and grasped the man by the shoulder.
"Ge'of-AH!"
He cried as Müller's iron strong grip tightened.
The next moment the man was soaring through the air and smashed into the crowd of people around the fighting ring. They all turned to look at Müller.
The werewolf grinned like a maniac and let out a harsh barking laughter.
The dogs cringed at the sound.
"Whats the matter you bastards? Did I interrupt your little party?"
Müller's body was starting to grow, the his hair lengthening and getting thicker, his shadow expanding and his clothes starting to tear.
"Now its your turn to fight."
Müller painted the alley red with blood.
The three werewolves, their stomachs full, stopped the cart on the way back to Nexeternus beside the road. The evening was warm and they struggled to stay awake for awhile before finally succumbing. They lay dozing in the cart.
Völundr shifted in his sleep, his dreams full of the accusatory stares of horror struck eyes.
Hati dreamed of Eleonore, her tongue caressing her body and exploring her orifices to moans of approval.
Müller ran through his dream-land on four legs, chasing herds of deer across vast planes. He stopped and howled into the wind, the echoes of his Pack answering him.
