01.16.2016
The soldiers patrolled the outskirts of the towns but were either quire nervous, owning to the uncertainty of what had destroyed the other towns, or completely unconcerned about things due to the uncertainty as well. The wolf had found a cave system that bordered the river, and was able to lie there during the day to keep his face and eyes shaded from the bright, burning sunlight.
As the sun fell past the trees that surrounded the cave, the wolf stirred. He’d grown larger yet as he slept, and had to really work to get himself out of the cave. The wolf’s stomach and feet rumbled as he walked through the forest, his tail brushing aside smaller trees whose trunks cracked in half.
The guards nearest to the borders of Chustal felt the ground tremor and looked out to the dark forest. Their hand-held torches didn’t even illuminate the boundary of the trees and meadow. But the snapping of branches filled the air, and the faint illumination from the sunset allowed them to see the treetops moving. No wind in the area could be causing that. And the soldiers shouldered their muskets, aiming them at the forest.
One was sent to ring an alarm bell, to alert overs of the disturbance. The trees stopped shaking and the sounds ceased too. The soldiers still pointed their weapons at the trees, but were uncertain of what to do, and cast confused glances at one another.
The alarm bell rang out again, and as soon as it tolled its last, the forest’s trees exploded outward and the wolf descended upon the army. Paws and claws and teeth and tail blurred through the sky as screams went up, along with stray musket balls. The wolf soon had killed the squadron.
And he was off, further into Chustal, seeking more blood and flesh and fear. Houses and businesses toppled in his path and people were taken from this life, family at a time. Fire spread from hearth to home and jumped from one ruined building to the next. The fire followed the wolf and served as an able companion to squander what he didn’t trample.
Chustal fell to the wolf, and many fled onward to Foulal, escaping the smoke and raining ask as much as the wolf. But the wolf had soon finished in Chustal, stopped to drain the town’s fountainhead of water, before storming into those in Foulal. The mayor watched the fire consume the far off buildings and the smoke glow with the flames on the haze. The Council stood at his side, speechless. He used a horn to urge the troops in Harsenth on to Foulal, to fight sa their oaths commanded. But none headed the Mayor, even if they heard him above the alarm bells that sounded throughout the area. The streets filled with citizens who looked to escape from town, before the wolf reached Harsenth. Foulal fell even more quickly than Chustal.
The wolf had reached a murderous efficiency, and trounced people and buildings alike, without even the faintest pretense of defense from the population there. Fire spread here as well, but a larger number of buildings of stone in the newer part of town kept it from all going up in flame. When the wolf had razed Foulal, he stood in the smoke, eying the town of Harsenth which was atop a hill that stood a good height over him. The fires about him cast warmth on his fur, and lent an eerie tinge to the coat that, when combined with the blood from his feasting, made his snout and neck look like coals smoldering in a fire.
He sat there, looking on the city, inspiring madness in those who looked back and saw him, and sped the emptying of significant portions of the city as people filled the road out of town. The moon rose and the wolf took a glance at the lightened area, deciding where to spend the coming day. His growing size made it harder and harder to find suitable shade. Tonight he’d use the rest of the darkness to find a spot. He was able to cover ground more quickly now, thanks to his size, and he did not want for energy.
The Mayor and Council watched his bulk disappear beyond a hill and into trees before looking around at one another, unsure of what to say or do next.
“We must leave too,” a council member spoke at last.
And none disagreed. The manor’s help loaded up wagons of possessions and provisions for both the Mayor and Council members. They left in a caravan, but made slow progress due to the people on the road. Looting had begun in Harsenth, but none spoke a word to the robbers. If the fools stayed here to enjoy their bounty, they would be the first meal for the wolf. Giving everyone else who fled a bit more of a chance to escape.
Clouds rode in and covered the moon with heavy layers that threatened storm. Rain did fall and muddied the path for all on it. The clouds over Chustal and Foulal glowed with the light of the fires which sputtered with the raindrops.
The rain also washed away the bloody tracks the wolf had left on his way out of town. But it would be many more hours before the wolf, how soaking wet, found any rest at the base of a cliff which had an overhand which afforded him a place to escape the rain and hopefully the sun of the coming day.