Jack nodded his approval as Elaine fell to her knees, sweating and panting from their morning training. He had moved it to the morning so that they could spend the rest of the day moving, giving her a chance to rest her arms; she soon realized what Noelle met, her arms and body quickly growing sore from all the movement it was not used to. She grumbled about it in the mornings, but to his surprised she never complained, simply grabbing her practice sword and going at him again. They were less than two days from wherever Noelle was taking them, and he would give her a full day to rest once they arrived.
He enjoyed their training far more than he let on to the elf, filled with joy as she tried her best to land a single blow on him. He let her catch her breath and they continued on their way, Noelle increasing the pace the closer they got. He wondered what could be so far south; they had past the capitol of the Duluhan Empire, and most of their territory as well. Soon, if he remembered what Midnight had told him correctly, they should reach the cliffs, the plains ending with a large cliff that overlooked the ocean.
The day was cool with a pleasant breeze, summer ending and being replaced with autumn. The vampires were all relieved by this, glad that the sun was being nicer to them at last. The day went by quickly now that the weather was nicer, and there were even soft looking clouds in the sky to block out the sun every now and then. He was eager to reach their destination, wanting to do proper maintenance on his weapon and armor, and they were running very low on blood.
The sun was finally beginning to set when they began to hear screams in the distance. He frowned, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword as he tried to see what the cause of the sounds were; the plains, having been flat for most of their journey, were slowly rising into small hills, just high enough to block their view of the area ahead. Elaine looked concerned, learning from her past experiences and hesitating before simply running off to help whoever it is.
Noelle didn't bother to stop, the group continuing their trek, but suddenly a shape came over the small hill in front of them, and Jack saw that it was a gravely injured human, the man holding what was left of his arm as he limped over the hill, leaving a trail of blood in the grass and dirt as he went. The smell of blood hit his nose, making him grow thirsty; they had been low on blood for a while now, and had been rationing it until they were able to get more. He controlled his instincts as the injured man reached them, falling to his knees and panting, his eyes glazed over in pain as he slowly spoke to them.
"Turn...back. There is a...monster ahead....killing all of us...run..."
Those were his last words, the human falling to the ground as the life faded from his eyes. Jack looked at the others, Noelle glaring at the dead man with anger in her orange eyes.
"Dammit, he is from the hidden sanctuary. He doesn't look like he is a warrior, so he must have been out to gather supplies. That means this so called 'monster' is directly in our path."
Drake frowned, kneeling next to the dead body and examining it.
"These are some large wounds, probably made by claws; too jagged to be made from a blade. What kind of beast could make gashes this large?"
"A werewolf." Jerry said, getting their attention as he crossed his arms, his eyes dark and serious. "They were attacked by a werewolf, and I only know of one werewolf besides myself. After all these years, it seems my brother has returned, and is as violent as ever."
Midnight walked past the body, pulling her bow off of her back as she looked back at them.
"It matters not; we are close, and I will not be stopped by anything, not even a werewolf."
They nodded their agreement, continuing to walk as Jerry warned them of what lie ahead.
"My brother is far more powerful than i am; he is bigger, stronger, faster, and has an annoying ability. He can grow these spines out of his body. They are as strong as steel, cover his back from attacks, and can be shot out as projectiles. He will be a hassle to deal with, but together we should be able to put him out of his misery."
Elaine looked over at Jerry with concern in her eyes. "But isn't he your brother?"
Jerry nodded, wearing a grim expression as he answered.
"Yes, but he lost his mind after our defeat by the vampires. He is nothing but a rabid animal now, and my loyalty is to the sanctuary. If he is attacking it, then he needs to be put down."
The sun was barely hanging in the sky, trying to stay around for as long as it could, when they reached the site of a massacre. Bodies, guts, and blood was thrown everywhere, the werewolf showing no mercy, and they saw the beast leaning over one of the bodies, biting down on the flesh and ripping it off before chewing it slowly, the sounds that came from this so disgusting that Elaine looked like she might be sick. The werewolf was large, easily making Drake look small, and his silver fur was covered in large spines that protruded out of his back and arms. Jack wrinkled his nose at the smell of all of it, tensing up as he prepared to fight.
Jerry took his cloak and shirt off, glaring as he began to transform. The werewolf slowly turned around, seeing them and growling as he stood up, blood and saliva dripping from his mouth as he stood up to his full height, towering over all of them. They drew there weapons, Jack preparing to go all out and kill the beast as quickly as possible, when the werewolf looked at him.
The growling stopped, and the werewolf moved his mouth, and Jack froze in place, swearing that the beast was smiling at him. Suddenly a vampire appeared next to Jack, catching them all off guard as Jack looked over, seeing a skull helmet as the vampire grabbed his arm, the two of them vanishing and leaving the others frozen in shock as the werewolf howled and charged them.