Darkness surrounded Erik, the moon had yet to rise over the horizon and the snow blocked out all the stars above them. Slowly the three soldiers marched through the snow, each of them holding a torch in one and a wrapped sword in the other hand. The wrapping would make the handle slippery but the cold steel could cause frostbite if held too long and there was nothing worse than having to amputate in the middle of winter weeks away from a real doctor.

His nostrils flared as he sucked in the cold winter air, fear, all three of them reeked of it, like an invisible cloak the smell stuck to them making fastening their heartbeats and making them sweat in the cold night.

The patrol had been separated from the main group and was now on their way back to the village the soldiers were using as a base of operations. Erik had waited for a moment like this, an opportunity to send a message to the soldiers.

His back arched as he slowly crept forward through the snow, teeth barred careful not to make a sound. The cat like form he had chosen had large paws and white fur, it was a bit larger than a mule and powerful enough to snap a man’s neck with a single twist.

Something stirred inside of him, the minds of all the predatory animals he had taken so far, they joined in and his vision grew wider, the world began to change as the light from the torches grew. Every breath they took was a deep rasping sound, their weapons light shiver now clearly visible, fear oozing from them, a cruel smile appeared on his lips as he drew ever closer from the side.

The wind began to freshen, the torches were flickering, fighting to stay alive in the cold air. The men were leaning forward trying to fight the storm and arrive in the safety of the village only a hundred meters away, well obscured by the snow.

Erik was now in range for the first man, he had put away the sword, struggling to stay on his feet as the wind blew. With a single leap Erik sailed the last meters and landed on the man's back, his teeth sinking into his neck silencing the cry for help in blood. His weight pushed the man face first into the snow, he thrashed about trying to get the large animal off him but his movements became slower as his life drained from him in a crimson stain that spread through the snow.

The other two had not yet realised what was going on, both were walking side by side through the snow as their friend bleed to death behind them. The warm blood ran down his jaw as Erik finally let go of his victim, his heartbeat was quicker now the voices of the animals in his head grew louder as they demanded more blood, something to satisfy their hunger that never ended.

The man to the left turned his head and Erik slammed into him, the other soldier screamed something as he tried to get to his comrade sword in hand. The man he had slammed into twas now on his back blade raised, eyes wide in horror as he stared at Erik’s blood covered snout. He feinted an attack from the side and when the soldier responded by pointing the tip of his sword into the direction Eirk circled around hammering one of his paws against the flat side of the blade and pinning it against the soldier holding it. The edges cut into the soft flesh of on the bottom of his legs but the fight was over, with a snapping sound his jaw closed around the neck of the man in front of him, this time he had been able to properly align his teeth and the man died instantly as his spine gave in.

A sharp pain shot through him and Erik growled as he let go of his dead victim, the last soldier had the leg closest to him and delivered a shallow but long cut on it. The eyes of the soldier grew wider as the cut closed before his eyes and Erik turned to him, he took one step towards the shivering soldier. The man just stood there, blade stretched in front of him but with no determination left. Every step Erik took had the man lean backwards until he fell over and stayed in the snow, whimpering he let go of his sword and pulled both hands before his face. Erik was tempted to kill the man, it would be so easy, tear his throat out and watch as the blood spilled all over the snow, one more body for the men in the village to find.

Then he snapped out of it, pushing the animal spirits back Erik regained full control over his thoughts, he needed one to be alive, to tell the soldiers about the beast roaming the hills or the whole thing would have been for nothing.

He turned around and ran off into the night, leaving the last soldier behind with his two dead comrades, as he ran he changed directions a couple of times before making his way back to the cave.

Turning back to human was getting harder, the longer he stayed as an animal the harder it got, at first he had thought something was wrong with him, after all he had spent all winter as a wolf last year and nothing of the sort had happened.

Now however it seemed like the more spirits he had within himself the harder it got to remember his humanity and regain his human form. The cave was full concealed by the snow, only a small opening at the top was left where the smoke of the fire could escape.

Slowly he snuck closer to the small opening he had made at the side, changing back into his human form. It was harder now, the bones snapped back into place with delay and the fur was only slowly retracting into his skin, he needed another beast to change into.

He when he was back to his usual self he began growing again, turning his hair black and changing into the body he had been using ever since his parents died, the eyes stayed yellow.

In the savet of the bushes he had bunkered his clothes, once dressed he emerged from the shadows and crawled into the cave.

Spring was still awake, as always Bo was sleeping right next to her sucking his thumb like a normal kid, the girl watched him with her bright eyes saying nothing even if he must have been a horrible picture to look at.

“Busy night?” She asked as she threw a branch of dried wood into the fire, sparks flew and Bo stirred in his sleep.

Erik just nodded, he was too tired to think of something else to say, the last two days he had spent finding more food since the goat and the deer had only lasted them through the first week.

Eating spoiled food was especially dangerous now with the cold temperatures and one of them in need of constant supervision. He looked over to where Summer was on the ground, they had made her as comfortable as possible with the clean parts of the fur Spring had stripped off the dead animals Erik had brought them.

It was not perfect but it seemed at least that Summer was slowly recovering, if the wound did not infect now she would probably survive the winter, as long as no soldiers barged in and slaughtered all of them.

Spring seemed to have sensed his bad mood and threw him some of the smoked meat, she had made. If he had been paying more attention Erik would have seen the piece of meat coming, the state he was in now had him realise what was going on when the meat landed in his lap.

“Thanks” he croaked, his voice was thin and Spring raised an eyebrow when she heard it.

“One day you have to tell me what you are doing out there… whatever it is humans should probably not do it.” She turned to Summer and checked her temperature, Bo slightly stirred in his sleep.

Erik smiled slightly, the girl wasn’t wrong he had yet to encounter another human that could do the same things he could… maybe he should start looking for someone like that, learn a thing or two about the abilities he had.

Erik leaned against the cold rock of the cave and closed his eyes, it was time to face his nightmares again.

The world was all wrong, snow drifted upwards as Erik ran through the forest, the predators in his mind chasing after him. The snow was sticking to his feet like mud, slowing him down as he tried to get away. Panic rose in him, his scream drowned out by the noise of a storm growing in the distance.

When he turned to see his enemies claws dug into his back pushing him forward into the snow, a weight settled on him. A growl sounded over the sound of the storm like a thunder deep and menacing.

Desperately he struggled against the weight on his back, pain shooting through him and blood running past him coloring the snow in front of his face red. Then the panic subsided, anger began to boil in his stomach his face burning as he got to his knees the weight letting go of him.

The animal that was in front of him was smaller now than it should have been, only a pup as he reached out and grabbed it by the throat. Claws dug into his hand now but Erik was in control again. The storm subsided and more small creatures appeared around him.

He woke up, the cave was darker now, the fire nearly extinguished, Spring was next to Summer, she must have fallen asleep feeding the general. Bo was shivering slightly, the boy was getting sick as well. If the four of them wanted to survive they would need better clothes and something to keep them warm besides the small fire.

Shaking the last images of the dream from his mind Erik got back to his feet, looking down on his hand he saw claws rather than fingers, he had changed while he was asleep. Cursing he concentrated the claws slowly changed shape but it was getting more difficult, sleep would have to wait until this was over.