Five corpses were scattered along the alleyway, among them a hooded figure looking at them.
They removed their hood revealing a darkish brown-skinned man, with grey eyes and long curly hair reaching his neck, he was about one point 8 meters with a slightly muscular build, he looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Even he didn't know.
This man was Fenris, a werewolf who's been on his own for quite some time.
He looked at his clothing and grunted.
"Damn, now I'm all covered in blood". It wasn't that Fenris minded, not at all he'd seen and spilled it countless times, the issue was not having a change of clothes if he walked out of the alleyway in the middle of the day with his clothes drenched in blood someone's bound to notice and he didn't have any more coin to buy new ones.
"Wait!", Fenris thought as he looked at the corpses, maybe he could salvage the situation. Moments later at the execution site of the falsely identified werewolf, there stood a man in robes watching the already burnt corpse.
"Hey buddy, I'm here for my payment", a voice heard behind the man dressed in robes turned around to find Fenris wearing one of the armors of the men he killed.
"Where are the rest of your group and I don't think I don't think I remember you being with them", the man in robes asked.
"Oh they're just drinking and whoring, you know how it is we gotta celebrate after getting ourselves a kill, so they sent me to collect payment which I still haven't gotten by the way", Fenris said glaring at the man and extending his hand as if expecting something to be placed on it.
The man in robes looked at Fenris for a while but eventually gave in and handed him a pouch. Fenris counted the coins to fifty silver, this is a lot more than you think, in this world, silver is more valuable than gold, as absurd as that sounds it makes sense given that it was a world ruled by fear and superstition about werewolves.
Fenris didn't know how that myth started but he didn't mind it; he'd gotten away on numerous occasions because of its silly logic.
Some believe only silver could kill a werewolf, sure if you managed to drive a silver sword through a werewolf's heart they would die but if you managed to pierce they'd still die, the same went for humans, and well pretty much everything.
Fenris pocked the bags of coins and went on his way, but then he turned around and realized this was a perfect opportunity to solve his other problem. "Hey, do you know where I can update my traveler's map around here", Fenris asked the man in robes.
"There's a building with three floors not too far from here asking for a sorceress named Sonya, the fee is hefty but that shouldn't be a problem for you," the man in robes said.
It took some time for Fenris to find the building; he wasn't given any directions, just a description, but he had finally found it, it was the tallest building in the entire town.
Walking inside the building he found it quite crowded, there were signs all over for various businesses, not normal ones just the ones that cost quite a lot like blacksmithing which he saw on his right, love potions, a grimoire store he saw people wearing dark robes most likely mages coming out of it, and more.
Fenris thought it was best to ask the owner of the grimoire shop about Sonya, there's a good chance a mage would know another mage. As he entered he found someone looking to be in his fifties or forties sitting at a desk.
"Welcome to my store young mage", he said with a smile. So tell me what kind of mage you are, are you a blessed one or are you one of the faiths", the store owner asked.
"Neither I'm here looking for a mage named Sonya, the problem is I have no idea where to start I was hoping you did", Fenris answered.
The Grimoire store owner's facial expression quickly changed from cheerful and welcoming to uninterested and annoyed, "Top floor, you'll find here working behind a stand with an arrow sign on it", the store owner answered in a dull tone.
Fenris began leaving, it was clear the man wanted him gone immediately, "Well should I ask about the other thing, maybe she was here, who am I kidding no way would I be so lucky to finally have a clue ", Fenris thought as he had an internal debate on what to do.
"Young man, I seem to have noticed you haven't left my store yet", the store owner said in a more annoyed tone. "Any chance a sorceress came here with purple hair, and dark robes with crescent moon patterns on them?", Fenris asked. "No", The store owner answered quickly.
"You sure? Those are features you don't see in your everyday image, try thinking back a little, maybe she did come here", Fenris asked.
"I may be old but I'm not that old and you're right those are special features for a mage and I certainly would have remembered them if this sorceress came to my store, now if that is all I ask you to be on your way", the store owner said.
"Well so much for that", Fenris thought. Walking away from the store he felt a little defeated, years spent looking for her every time coming up with nothing. Maybe he should just abandon the search.
It was killing him not knowing where she was, not knowing if she was still— No he couldn't think like that if he did then there would be no point.
Reaching the top floor, Fenris again saw a lot of businesses attending to their customers, he also saw a stand with a sign hanging on the wall with a sign on it, just like the rude old man described. Not a long line just two in front one was a mage in dark robes, Fenris remembers seeing him leave the grimoire and a man with a crossbow on his back. It was finally his turn.
Sonya was a blonde woman probably in her mid-thirties, with green eyes, and was about 1.7 meters in height, maybe shorter.
"Good day and how can I help you", she said, giving a smile, it was kind of funny how people could smile so innocently when they wanted something.
"I need to update my map and I hear you're the person who can do that", Fenris answered.
Sonya took a look at the map Fenris was holding; its edges were torn and frayed, and its entire bore lines of it being folded and unfolded many times.
"I can help you with that and I can also help with getting a new map", Sonya said. "That won't be necessary, just update the one I have", Fenris said.
"If the price is what you're concerned about, don't be only 10 bronze coins", Sonya said. "No!!", Fenris said louder than he meant to. He realized what he had done and, turning around, Fenris saw a few stares at him, he had to fix this and he had to do it fast.
"I mean, no thanks this map has sentimental value for me and I don't need a new one. Please just update it for me", Fenris said softly. "Of course, the fee is 50 gold coins", Sonya said. Fenris handed her one silver coin.
"The process will take some time, please be patient," Sonya said. She placed her hand on the map and circular waves appeared from her hand and spread out to the entire map.
"I'm so lucky that it worked", Fernis sighed in relief.
He wasn't lying when he said the map held sentimental value for him after all it was created for him by a very dear friend of his, the same friend he'd been searching for, for years but that wasn't the only reason for his resistance and earlier outburst.
Creating a new map would need his blood and there was a good chance she would be able to detect it not being from a human. That was not a chance he was willing to take. "It's done", Sonya said.
The process took about ten minutes Fenris grabbed the map and looked at It then little pictures, large diagrams, and wordings that weren't visible before started to appear on the map and there was a little triangle with the rest of the others, that was him or to be more precise it was where is he.
"May I ask where you're going?", Sonya asked. "North", Fenris answered. "Well be careful after all winter is coming and I hear it's quite deadly there", Sonya said.
"I'll remember that and oh my change", Fenris said. Sonya handed him fifty gold coins.
Fenris began exiting the building, "They haven't found the bodies yet, by the time they do i need to be as far away from this town as possible", Fenris thought.