01.06.2016
A man on his way to fish in the river, early in the morning, came across the remains of the boy and his father. Both the sister and mother had fallen asleep in exhaustion waiting up for them, and were terrified to go outside. A knocking on the door awoke them and caused their hearts to sink as the fisherman delivered the news.
The man comforted them as best he could, before telling them to go back inside while he fetched the others. The morning fog burnt off as hammers and saws made another pair of coffins for the deceased. More graves were excavated and caskets lowered. The cries of the immediate and extended family filled the air, and these were soon followed by cries to do something to prevent the beast from bringing hell for a third night running.
The town’s elder suggested a night watch. Another suggested placing lanterns around the town to help the watchers keep a lookout. By evening, eight people were preparing for their night’s duty. They would use two groups of four people, patroling together. The moon rose again over the town and the wolf stared at it for a time, hateful, before heading away from the lanterns which encircled the town. He would feast elsewhere, on non-human flesh. The watches passed without event, and as the sun rose, the last group could see where they’d worn a path in the field and along the outer perimeter of the fences where the companies had made their rounds. And the town was hopeful.
Until midday, when a shepherd from the nearby fields came into town to tell of the slaughter that had befallen his sheep. In the night, he heard their terrified bleating, and in the moon’s light could see a large animal ravaging his flock, but he had no weapons to try and attack, and his dogs cowered by his side. With the morning, and assurance that the creature had long vanished, he took stock of the damage and found eight animals obliterated.
Again, the only remains were the head and spines, left ominously in a nearby tree. Blood blanketed the ground, and the shepherd had run right here to tell the town of his story and to ask help in gathering the remains of his scattered flock. He’d be destroyed otherwise.
A group went in search of the sheep and found all of them huddled in a low-hung cave next to bluffs to the town’s south. The dead sheep would hurt his year, but the town vowed to assist as they could. They also told him of their recent experiences, and he stood speechless for a moment before saying he was lucky to have made it out alive. And he wondered if he could take his flock elsewhere for a time where they might be safer, until the menace had passed.