Summer's condition was getting worse, the stab wound in her lower stomach was infected and a fever had taken hold of her. Erik was getting worse as well, every time he changed he found himself missing bits and pieces of his memories. For now he could still get back to his senses but it wouldn't take much longer until he did something bad.

Bo was sleeping a lot his face was pale and if Erik was to guess the meat only diet did nothing to improve the boy's condition. He needed something else, some bread and vegetables. The only source of those was the village and the soldiers had a strong presence there nearly forty men were still left and they had become careful. groups of five canvassed the area and Erik was not sure he would survive an assault on that many people.

Still, he would need to do something this night, Spring was tired and if she fell sick too he was not sure he could save the three of them. He looked up from where he was sitting the the edge of the cave, Spring was feeding her brother some dried meat.

The sun was setting again, orange light piercing the layer of snow over the bushes that hid the entrance. Spring looked up from her brother, dark rings surrounded her eyes and she had lost weight like all of them.

Sleep had been elusive, ever since he killed the two soldiers in the night before. When he had woken up to find himself changing form without even knowing it. Slowly Erik got to his feet, Spring turned to him an eyebrow raised as he crouched down to leave the cave.

"If you die out there the three of us are dead as well." She yelled after him, Erik cursed and bit his lip, he knew that much. The cold air was a blessing, snow evaporated as it touched his skin and he felt calm again, furr grew on his limbs and his bones began changing as he took on the form of a wolf.

Lately it seemed as if only as a wolf he felt something resembling peace as most of the animals he had within were wolves or wolf like creatures, when their howling subsided the noise in his head became bearable.

Quiet as a shadow Erik slipped into the late evening leaving his clothes behind, he knew what he had to do, the only place where he could get the food he needed was in the village.

As he ran through the forest the feeling of drowning intensified, there were at least another thirty soldiers at the village, not a number he could fight. The evening grew darker as clouds began to eclipse the last rays of sunshine, soon heavy snowflakes fell from the sky, dampening every sound.

When the first lights of the village shone through the snow Erik was nearly in front of the first building, the light snowfall had intensified even with his vision it was hard to make out anything not directly in front of him. The building he was standing before now was one of the smaller houses at the edge of the village, damp noises sounded from within, men yelling about something. Careful Erik stepped closer, his paws barely breaking the snow as he moved to one of the barred windows.

“...won’t do! We are sitting here in the middle of a snowstorm surrounded by animals that hunt humans! Did you even see what it did to Cross and Dirt? Something much larger than just one bloody wolf tore them apart and they were even carrying their weapons! What kind of fucking animal attacks two humans and gets away without a scratch or leaving any trace?”

The voice of a woman sounded from within the walls, agreed murmuring was the first response.

“The two of them were probably drunk again, we all know why they got the late shift. Their death was tragic but I have been wandering these parts for a long time now, never in all that time have I seen anything like the scout said he saw in the distance. Fear can play tricks on a soldier’s eyes, especially if said soldier is tired and just witnessed the death of two of his colleagues.” A deeper voice answered, followed by more agreed muttering from at least three more soldiers.

So a scout had seen him attack the two… Erik was surprised to hear about that, he had been under the impression nobody would be able to see him if he in turn could not see them.

“Our mage agreed to as much, no animal would have attacked like this and he is a lot smarter than the lot of you!” more agreeable sounds and a snort from the first speaker.

A mage! Things got worse the more he knew about the soldiers stationed at the village, Erik had always been under the impression that mages stayed away from any form of conflict and lived in some monastery with the dragons… He was not happy about finding out that was not the case.

The fact that soldiers were in the house however told him that there had to be food there, possibly a bit of medicine. Erik knew a bit about Redwood and Stingleaf, enough to find it if it was somewhere within the building.

Redwood helped with fever and Stingleaf was healthy for you even if the taste was absolutely horrendous.

“I say, we move out and start hunting this thing down before it does the same thing to us! Attack is the best defense and I heard one of the villagers talking about a couple of caves along the lower parts of the mountain south of here, I bet my ass the beast is somewhere around there.” Erik’s hair stood up straight, if they searched along the side of the mountain they would eventually find something that lead them to Summer and the others.

“Shut up Dirk! Stop eating the fucking mushrooms growing from the wall around here, they mess with your head.” laughter filled to room, Dirk cursed.

“Not like he got much to mess with anyway!” another voice added, much to the enjoyment of the remaining soldiers.

“Stop with the senseless bickering, that is an order!” The deep voice sounded, and the laughter subsided.

“Get some sleep, Drik got first watch. If I catch you napping again during your watch I will flog you in the middle of the village are we understood?”

There was no answer but everybody got moving so Erik suspected the man must have nodded. Heavy footsteps sounded as the soldiers spread out into their rooms, he counted six pairs of footsteps, if Dirk had not moved that meant at least even people were in the building. Not a number he wanted to engage, three was cutting it close, five and he was glad to get away alive.

He needed a plan, something he could do to increase the odds of him winning the fight or at least not get killed and get away with the medicine. Footsteps sounded again, followed by the hushed voice of a woman.

“Really you gotta take a leak now?” A grunt was the only answer she got and Erik had an idea. He snuck around the side of the house until he was at the front door.

Footsteps closed in and Dirk greeted the man with a mumble, he sounded sleepy already. The door to the house opened and the silhouette of a tall thin man walked two steps into the snow before cursing.

Erik did not move, he was no more than half a meter behind the man, teeth barred, waiting for the door behind the man to be closed by a shivering Dirk, dooming the soldier in front of him.

Wood creaked and footsteps closed in on the door with a curse, the light shining through the door disappeared slowly into a fine line. The soldier peeing turned to see where the light was going baring his neck in the perfect angle for a quick and silent kill.

Erik launched at the soldier, sinking his teeth into the man’s neck and pulling it further to the side, cutting off the oxygen and any sound he wanted to make, blood spilled through his teeth and down his throat as the surprised man struggled shortly until a shake of Erik’s head tore the wound at his throat wider and blood quickly leaked into the snow, The wolf waited for a bit after the struggle had ended, making sure the man was dead before letting go and turning into a human.

It was easier this time, a cold fury filled his mind making it easier to control all the other voices in his head. Once he was back to human form he quickly searched the man for any weapons, sadly he had no such luck.

Quickly he stripped the man of his shirt and trousers, they weren't a perfect fit but it would need to suffice. He opened the door, lowering his gaze not to be discovered to quickly, Dirk was looking out the window.

“Close the bloody door Chris!” he hissed watching as snow drifted past the window.

Erik quickly closed the door, locking it behind him. Slowly he stepped closer to the man still watching the snowdrift outside, on the table in the middle of the room were a couple of dirty knifes set into the wooden surface.

As quietly as he could Erik freed one from the table and moved closer to the sitting guard, the candle at the side of the window flickered slightly and the boy could see himself reflected in the window as he moved closer.

Dirk turned to him, slowly eyes still lingering at the fallen snow, the blade slammed into the side of his neck, surprise appeared on his face as his hands reached for the cool metal, Erik tore the blade free opening up half of the man’s throat.

The soldier fell sideways from his chair, blood quickly pooling on the floor making a slight noise, like water.

Erik stayed very still, blade in his hand blood slowly creeping over the floor, the only sound was the wind outside, the light snoring form the next room and faint footsteps. The person was barefoot and slight of build.

Quickly and as quietly as he could the boy into a dark corner next to the entrance leading to the next room, the steps were irregular, the person most likely still half asleep.

A hand appeared on the side of the wall Erik was leaning on, small the marks of a farmer, a young one at that, similar to the farmers girl back in Crossingrivers.

He held his breath, the candle was not shining enough light for a clear view of the corpse, maybe she would just move on. But if she did not, a scream now would send the soldiers here and him into trouble, he should be able to escape but he would never get another chance like this, Spring, Summer and Bo might be dead by the time he managed to get his hands on some medicine.

His hand tightened around the grip of the knife, the girl was just behind the edge of the wall, he could probably get her without making too much of a fuss but was he really going to kill a bystander, a girl probably a few years younger than him that just had the bad luck of living here?

The footsteps stopped, the breathes as well, something was wrong, the girl was going to scream. Erik slipped around the corner, the girl’s eyes widened at the movement, her hand was stretched out in front of her, the blade caught her just beneath the chin. He caught her before she lost balance, she had not tried to scream, the girl had been about to yawn.