I must admit Vin, I had to look up what a Befana was because we don't have anything like that in Australia. Happy to hear I managed to surprise you though. In other good news, it seems nobody wants to kill me (yay!)

Chapter 14

"Hiccup!"

The voice that spoke his name was not the soft sweet sound he was accustomed to. It was as rough as a dragons roar and as deep as the towns signal horn.

"Hiccup...run!"

"No, it's still you Astrid... still you in there and I am not leaving you!"

"I said... RUN!"

The beast Astrid leapt forward and pushed Hiccup away. As he fell onto his back, he saw her hands no longer had fingers and he felt where her claws had dug into his chest. With every second that passed, the transformation continued and soon Hiccup could not even recognise her as the girl he loved. The werewolf's claws tried to grab at the buckle on its chest but without fingers, wrists and elbows, it was difficult for the creature to even reach the clasp.

"Astrid... stop... listen to my voice... you know my voice... come on, be calm... that's right, breath."

His words defiantly caught the creature's attention, but he had no way of knowing if she understood. The transformation appeared to be complete as the new Astrid stared, apparently transfixed by his calm oration. Suddenly the creature's visage changed to one of seething anger and it lunged at Hiccup, slashing at his chest. The beast tried to latch on to his throat but it was stopped mere inches from its goal by the chain attached to the back of its harness.

Taking the opportunity, Hiccup inched back until he had put enough distance between himself and the wolf to roll away and get back onto his feet. With his tunic torn and the aroma of his own blood filling his nostrils, Hiccup watched as the beast slowly began to pull the bed across the room. Wishing he had taken better precautions, Hiccup retreated towards the fire pit while desperately trying to come up with a half decent plan.

The beast finally came to the conclusion that it would never get very far dragging the bed around. Hiccup thought he may have given a reprieve, but instead the creature turned back, took the chain in its mouth and broke it with one snap of its powerful jaws.

"Oh come on" Hiccup half sighed.

Now free, the beast that was once Astrid turned its attention back to the young man by the fire. A low growl emitted from deep in its throat as it paced forward.

"Come on Astrid, I know you can still hear me... I hope you can still hear me" Hiccup mumbled to himself.

With a mighty roar, the werewolf leapt up and knocked Hiccup flat on his back once more, bounced off his still bleeding chest and smashed through the closed window shutters. Slightly winded, Hiccup lay still for a minute before pulling himself up again. Removing his tunic, he looked down at his injuries and was relieved to find the cuts were only superficial; so he fetched a bottle of Gothi's wound juice and a length of bandage, and started to clean and wrap his chest. The pure alcohol may have protected Hiccup from infection, but the stinging pain made him cry out in agony.

The tunic may have been torn and stained with blood, but for now it was all he had apart from his heavy Yak skin coat, so he donned them both and pulled on his boots. Opening Astrid's front door, Hiccup saw the night was naturally dark and freezing cold, but that did not matter. The realisation that his life was still in grave danger meant nothing to the young man; he had to find Astrid, and he had to do it before anyone else did.

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There appears to be some kind of human seasonal celebration fast approaching where on a certain day, a fat man in a red suit gives gifts to good children. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Sorry but I've known too many human children, and none of them are good (they're not too great when they grow up either).

I wonder if Mister Tubby White Beard would cough up a few choice gifts for a cat with ambition?