Forest of Dain, Kingdom of Dain- Mid Summer 14 years AR

“Well if it isn’t the red wolf!” Aethred called out as Leofrith walked up, he was in his human form but some of the lycans had started calling him that within a day of his transformation. It’d only been 2 days but it spread quickly. The reasoning for it was Leofrith's red auburn hair, lycans hair matched their fur. He was the only redheaded lycan among them, most were different shades of blond or light brown.

“Should just get permission to turn him Leo. You can kick in his teeth and call it training then label him the short wolf.” Erin said sipping on some tea for breakfast.

“Can’t turn anyone, I’m not a knight. I’m not even a squire,” Leo admitted.

“What’s the punishment if you do?” Aethred asked with a grin but dropped it when Leo ran his finger across his neck.

The past day Leo had spent a lot of time one on one with Afgheir, who explained everything that he needed to know about being a lycan. Namely, the laws associated with turning someone. For the most part, breaking any of them was punishable by death. Considering the consequences of someone being turned that shouldn’t be it was understandable, no one wanted a lycan lunatic running around. It’d be as bad as a werewolf and probably cause quite a few people to be bitten.

Leo walked over and poured himself a cup of tea, Jon and Jaes were off meditating and this was the first morning in a while he’d be able to break his fast while sitting. He sat down next to Erin and took a sip. He was still encouraged to meditate but he was given leave from doing it until he could get used to his new senses. His eye sight could zoom in but it was hard to do. His sense of hearing and smell though, were already improved and wouldn’t go back to human levels of sensitivity until he could change it himself.

The result was he sat there sipping his tea and smelling it.. and the people’s breakfast at the campsite upwind and smoke and the distinct smell of sex and the latrines… Meanwhile his head hurt from all the noise; a squirrel chittering in the distance, conversations from the expedition members, Erin slurping her tea! Afgheir had told him that at this point, most young lycans would go off on their own or with a couple other young lycans to camp out in the forests of the north for a few weeks to a month. Long enough to get over the changes to the senses. His request to camp outside the perimeter was obviously denied.

He was frustrated for another reason, his new training was the cause. It wasn’t difficult but it was awkward standing naked in the woods with 4 armed knights or rangers keeping watch. When he was told that a squire would be joining him soon he was annoyed, when he met her he was stunned. It was the HER part that got him. They could take as much privacy as they wanted, as long as they didn’t require more guards. He only needed to do it for a week or two to get used to shifting back and forth at his own will. So at least he wouldn’t have to do it long.

A short howl filled the air signaling their departure, he understood it as ‘move’ or something similar. It wasn’t that he translated it into common, he just inherently knew what it meant. That was an interesting part of his new situation. He had learned another language instantly and he had no idea how many random noises the lycans had made were actually words. It wasn’t even the here and there growls or soft yips but after his transformation he learned there were entire conversations going on that were too low or too quiet for the human ear to hear. The words didn’t travel far but it meant two lycans could walk next to each other and have a semi-private conversation, only another lycan standing close could listen in. Just another reminder that he was technically a magical being now.

“What are you smiling at?” Erin asked.

**********

Jaes got back to the campsite after a refreshing morning of meditation. That wasn’t sarcasm either. She’d asked Afgheir if she could bring tea with her to focus on how it effects her. The warmth in her mouth and throat, the smell rising from the cup. To her surprise, he said that was fine. She hadn’t told Jon yet but she would; after a few days of sitting quietly in the forest sipping tea and relaxing. She still did focus on her body but it didn’t change the fact it was a nice way to start her day!

She’d been in a great mood for days now, the weight of her brothers fate finally lifted form her worries. They were into their routine now and she felt proud of having responsibilities around the camp. She even asked and got permission to put on face paint. Ser Afgheir looked confused when she explained her worry about offending followers of the Northern Pantheon and the talk of dedicating to the gods. He asked where it was and he promised her that he’d go to Everton one day because it was a load of bullshit.

She’d seen quite a few new examples as nearly every lycan wore their face paint into the forest. Asymmetrical designs, swirls, dots, some with lines that continued down their necks. Today was her first day wearing it, she’d had volunteered to take Astrid’s watch last night. It was the last shift, she wanted the chance to do it and Dame Helga, Astrid’s mentor, was more than happy to pass the time talking about her facepaint. She too was influenced by Hild and drew two spikes down but from the middle of her eye instead of the outside corners, from there she painted three lines down her chin from the bottom of her lips, only the middle one going onto her lips. She finished by rubbing her closed eyes with the paint covering her eye sockets with light blue and small tapered lines pointing out from her eyes. The only part that was symbolic was the three lines on her chin, the middle one was the same as Hild's, the other two next to it were Erin and Jon. The three northerners that she grew up with. The rest… that was all hers.

She walked into the camp and picked up her ruck that she’d packed the previous night without saying a thing. She’d see who noticed first and it was of course Jon. He hadn’t said anything so she put her finger to her lips to shush him. He stood there with his mouth open staring but nodded with a smile after a moment. Erin looked up at her and noticed second.

“Gods! Jaes that looks great,” Erin exclaimed causing everyone else to pay attention to her.

“Well at some point we’ll be going to Ederath and I’ll be a lycan…

“Awe you guys have matching heathen paint,” Aethred said running a line down his lips. Jaes just glared at him and looked back and forth around him. He glanced too and was reminded of where he was, rangers and knights were staring him down, “Ah technically to me… my bad.”

“He’s not wrong you know, bunch of hairy barbarians rubbing that all over yourselves,” a ranger said looking right at one of the knights with a smirk.

“Better than uptight pricks wearing dresses and worshiping a candle,” the knight shot back as nonchalantly as he could. He was starting to smile but shifted to hide his grin. Getting a bigger mouth didn’t help with that, his grin was just scarier.

“Hey! That’s enough… there’s southerners in our company.” another knight called out but by his tone it wasn’t a reprimand.

“Good point, a dress is better than clothing that looks like it was designed by a drunk child.” Jaes just laughed at that one, thinking of some of her father’s gaudy clothing.

The southern nobles within earshot looked highly offended at the northerners making fun of them but calmed down as Willow stepped up in defense of the southern front. As they began to march even the pompous southern knights started to join in. It was the first time this little game had been played since they all met up at the Crossroads but Jaes had heard it on the march there. She giggled as one of the rangers pulled Leofrith in, calling him a lycan strawberry. His hair was more burnt orange than red but when he got embarrassed his face turned to the correct hue which only made it worse.

It made everyone spirits light that day as they moved through the forest. By midday they’d gotten faster as everyone was getting better at spotting easier paths or tried systems to pull people up a steep hill. They were only around 30 miles into the forest, far off from the heart of it but they still hadn’t seen much anywhere near the main group. Hunting groups for meat or scouts sometimes ran into things but not much was happening. It was easy to forget they were in one of most notorious regions of the entire northern isles.

“Miss Jaesmin?” Astrid had walked up to Jaes, “Could you accompany me to find a place to relieve myself?”

“Ummm yeah, Astrid, sure.” Jaes said setting her pack down next to Leo, who’d heard. Most of the knights called Astrid, Miss Astrid, which was strange to Jaes but she didn’t question it. Knowing southern standards it meant Astrid was likely the daughter of an Ederathan noble. The less strict societal standards of the north meant that some followed it, others didn’t. Jaes a former noble herself, chose not to.

The two walked off into the woods and after Astrid informed one of the perimeter guards they were allowed past. They didn’t need to go far, just far enough to get some privacy. They wandered a moment, looking for a decent spot and found one where neither the perimeter watch or the outriders further away would be able to see the two girls peeing. Jaesmin stood watch while Astrid did what she needed to do and then they switched. Business done they started to walk back. They had gone in an ‘L’ shape to find a good spot but cut straight back through a small clearing. As they entered it, Jaesmin's eye was drawn to as strange black vine on the ground. It wasn’t very long but it was stiff and stuck up out of the soil. It had thorns covering it’s surface. There was plenty of vegetation around but you didn’t see thorny black vines.

It sucked itself into the ground and Jaes stopped and a breath later grabbed Astrid and pulled her back. She looked back where it had been but it was gone, she looked around but didn’t see any movement in the soil indicating it was a living vine. She thought about how it looked, was it a vine. Short thin, covered in extremely thin thorns… She gasped and pulled Astrid back. The younger girl struggled.

“Unhand me! What are you doing?” Astrid yelled at her, not liking being yanked around. Jaesmin did and picked up a fist sized rock by her foot, she pointed at the clearing. She tossed it towards where the vine was and watched it hit the ground, roll, and disappear into the soil. A chittering sound reached her ears a moment later.

“SPIDERS!!” She yelled and pushed Astrid back as she drew her sword and shield. A black hairy leg appeared out of the dirt followed by another as a giant spider, the size of a large dog crawled out of the hole, it’s 8 black eyes taking in everything; including the two girls. She could clearly see the others running toward them but they were on the other side of the pit! She didn’t need to warn them of the trap as more of the giant arachnids started to pour out of their nest to kill or scare off the perceived threat.

The one in front of Jaes jumped! It flew through the air directly at her, legs splayed and the fangs lifted up to reveal a mouth with sharp teeth.

‘Spider’s weren’t supposed to have fucking teeth!’ she thought as the monster slammed into her shield, she didn’t go down but it was undeterred and tried to dig it’s fangs into the wood. Jaesmin nearly had a heart attack when they went straight through the wood, narrowly missing her arm. She slashed at it over her shield and was rewarded with an eerie shriek when her sword found purchase. She pulled back as it did but had to fall back as she noticed a second spider leaping at her from the side. She put her sword up and impaled its head. She twisted the blade and swept the edge of the shield along it to get her sword out. The first spider reared up at her but she slashed at it as it did. It already had one fang nearly severed, now there was a slight gash in it’s torso. It dropped back down and unsteadily rushed her, she slammed the edge of her shield down on it’s head killing it instantly.

“Okay let-” Jaes turned around and noticed Astrid was missing. She spun in a circle watching the knights, rangers, and adventurers fight the swarm of massive spiders. She saw everyone except Astrid when she looked behind her, she saw Astrid's sword and helmet laying in the dirt. She ran to them and could see boot prints in the soil, Jaes wasn’t a tracker but she knew that Astrid had run in fear.

“ASTRID!” she yelled out pushing her way through the foliage, looking down trying to spot another boot print and wary of more black thorny vines sticking up, “ASTRID!”

She soon reached the top of a ravine and nearly cried. There in the distance, was Astrid. Desperately trying to climb a tree and below her a fully grown Shadowcat!

‘Why couldn’t it just be the fucking spiders.’ Jaes hesitated, she could go back for help but it was a cat, it could climb trees. At least she thought they could. She jerked back and forth for a moment, run for help and Astrid might get eaten. Run in to fight a large apex predator, a cat the size of a bear, and probably get eaten.

“JAESMIN!” Astrid had just noticed her and had a look of terror.

“ASTRID! GET AS HIGH AS YOU CAN, IT’S TOO HEAVY FOR THE SMALL BRANCHES! I’LL LEAD IT AWAY! HEY! CAT UP HERE!” Jaes hoped her impromptu plan of get the cats attention and run like hells while hoping a small army of knights were running towards her right now, would work. Her yelling did get the cats attention, it looked at the small hard to reach prey and the larger easy prey, it made a choice. The thing hopped off the trunk of the tree and started running up the side of the ravine straight at her “STAY THERE!” Jaesmin yelled as she threw her shield and ran. Tears welled up as she dodge past trees, hearing the beast steadily gaining. It was far larger than the last one and an experienced killer rather than kittens first time hunting.

Jaes briefly thought about putting her back to a tree and making a stand but that was just as bad as her second option. Which was wildly swing her sword around and hope to kill it in one strike as it pounced on her. Third option of ‘hope Jon saves me again’ was worthless too.

After a momentit dawned on her that she wasn’t running back to camp, she’d missed a turn somewhere but couldn’t stop to get her bearings. She glanced behind her and rolled down into another ravine. ‘I’m dead’ is all she could think as she tumbled, losing her sword in the process.

The only thing that kept any distance was she could fit between trees the shadowcat chasing her could not; as soon as she stopped rolling it would be all over. She hit the bottom of the ravine and her sword landed near her. She glanced up and saw a big black creature bounding down the hillside. She scrambled and got her sword and rolled onto her knees pointing it at the beast.

It landed and snarled at her, no to her left. She cursed the gods at the thought there was something behind her. A massive force that sent her flying a second later confirmed it. She landed and felt her own sword slice into her left forearm. She looked up just in time to see a massive clawed hand grab the shadowcat as it turned to flee. It yanked the cats leg and pulled it towards it, the cat digging in it’s claws frantically to escape. It was no use, with a swipe of it’s other hand it sliced the cats throat.

It’s large antlered head turned to look at her as she took it in, long black hairless arms, body and legs covered with brown fur, antlers on top of a head that looked like an animal skull with two long, dagger like teeth halfway back on the upper jaw.

Jaesmin stood up shakily as the monster dropped the cat and continued to looked at her. Her human instinct was run, her beastmind instinct was run, she ignored both. She didn’t know why but she could only stare into its black eyes as it looked at her. It rose to it’s full height. It wasn’t as big as the drakes in bulk but on two legs it was 10 feet, 13 if you counted the antlers. It stepped towards her and all she could do was look at it’s eyes. It didn’t charge like it did with the cat, it was doing something else. She didn’t understand what was going on, Jaesmin just felt the need to stare at the dark abyss on it’s skull like face. It took another step and it’s lower jaw stretched open to a near right angle. The lower jaw splitting into two and spreading outwards.

Jaesmin understood now, it took her a moment, two slow steps to be exact. It was a monster, it had wild magic. She was stuck staring at the eyes because it was using it’s magic on her. She willed herself to move, put everything she had on it.

‘I am a lycan! I cant transform yet but if I can deal with a beastmind, I can deal with this!’ she pushed herself harder, she imagined herself during evening training. Her own wild magic fighting against her. Pushing it back!

Her eyes snapped away and she took a step back as it took it’s third forward. It realized quickly that it’s magic had failed and went to it’s backup, it charged. She threw herself towards it thinking of the story about the Drakes, distance isn’t always safer. Running didn’t work for the cat at least.

The somersault brought her between it’s legs as it snatched at empty air with one clawed hand and swiped further back with it’s other. She scrambled to her knees and thrusted upwards, standing as she did. The strength of her arms plus her legs drove the blade into the monsters lower back. It obviously relied on it’s magic as it wasn’t armored. She drove her blade halfway to the hilt and yanked it out. Falling back just in time to see clawed fingers slash the air as the monster turned. It tried again and she rolled over twice onto her back again and held her sword up, catching the hand with the blade as the dirt it had dug into flew up around her.

It jerked it’s hand back as the blade ended up between two of its fingers, slicing it open. She got up and got a few steps of distance while it looked down at its hand with black eyes. She hoped someone would find her because so far it’d been rash decisions and dumb luck that’d helped her even land a blow on the terror that was trying to kill her.

It rushed again and this time she dove forward towards it’s right leg. The monster had learned and went between it’s legs but missed, for the most part. Jaes felt a surge of pain from her thigh as she hit the ground. She slapped her left hand, which was still bleeding over the gash and golden light started healing the wound, it wouldn’t be enough to close it but it would stop bleeding.

Jaes pushed herself up and turned to look at it. She didn’t know if it was annoyed or not, she just realized that it hadn’t made a single noise the entire time. No matter what it was thinking she took the moment to cast HEAL, taking advantage of the momentary stalemate.

She felt an urge to look at it again and realized it wasn’t a stalemate, it had decided to try it’s magic again. Jaes just felt angry at it, but pretended to look while still casting on her leg as an idea formed. It took a step forward. This time it was closer, only two steps away now. It unhinged its jaw once more and took another step. Just one more step and she was in biting distance. It wasn’t going to claw her, it was going to bite her. She was already in range of it’s arms. It took another step and leaned over the top of her.

She was looking straight up at it now. She didn’t know when she would strike, could she hit it’s neck and survive long enough for it to bleed to death? It lifted it’s head slightly and her eyes grew wide as the maw of the beast came down at her. She thrust up with her sword pushing the blade up as her target came down, she felt her sword hit something and a moment later the monster came crashing down. She’d killed it by doing the same thing as Jon. Difference was, he wasn’t underneath the drake as the spine was severed. The 10 foot tall wendigo came down on top of her.