Chapter Six- Higher Brutality

Mahad blinked at the sun on his face as he uncurled himself. He looked around in confusion: He was not where he last recalled. Uh, what happened last night? I remember turning into a wolf, but after howling, it's all a blank. However, I feel a sense of darkness still in my heart. He got to his feet, seeing he was wearing his clothes and shoes again. He walked out of the alley and froze at what he saw. There were corpses littering the area! There were also guards who were either taking care of the bodies or talking to the people. His presence caught the guards' attentions and one came up to him and knelt. "Master Mahad," he said, not mentioning the fact that the magician wasn't wearing his headdress.

"What has happened here?" he asked, stunned at the devastation.

"Citizens claim a muscular black wolf attacked last night and killed all these people. A couple of them claim it dragged a body off and it's likely the wolf ate it. We'll look for the remains."

"Do it. I will report this tragedy to the pharaoh." The guard rose and bowed as Mahad headed for the palace, passing the bodies as he did so. He felt horrified by what he saw: Claw marks had ripped skin from the bodies, some had their throats torn apart, and others had been mauled to death. He knew without a doubt that it had been his claws and teeth that did these horrors. I turned into a vicious killer werewolf and the shadows did this to me. I am the threat Isis predicted!

"Impressive, isn't it?" the shadows purred. "You were an efficient killer."

"You saw everything? I don't remember a thing."

"That's part of the curse. You thought as a wolf with a grudge against humanity. That is why you attacked and since you were in wolf form, your human side was suppressed, thus you have no memory of what you did."

"That's awful, terrible."

"Is it? You desire power in all its forms. As a werewolf, you have the physical power you wanted."

Shadows swirled in Mahad's eyes before dissipating and descended on his mind. "You're right. I saw the muscles I had as I changed. I liked what I saw and I want to see it again."

"And so you will, at least two more times before the moon wanes."

Atem gaped at Mahad's words. "A wolf attack? I have never heard of one before."

"Neither have I, but there are witnesses to the event.'

Atem shook his head in dismay. Several of his subjects were killed and one reportedly eaten. This was far worse than criminals moving among the populace for the latter didn't resort to murder for most part. It seems Isis' prediction is finally coming true. "Mahad, see to the assigning of guards to protect the people. Day and night patrols."

Mahad knelt. "Yes, my pharaoh." He rose and once out of sight, he frowned. While the day shift wasn't a concern, the night one was. He couldn't stay in the palace; he had to get away from the city also. He may not be in control when transformed, but he could control where he changed. He gathered the guards and split them into day and night shifts before splitting them into small groups to make sure everyone can get some rest. Once that was settled, the current day shift continued their duty while the other went to sleep or prepared for their new shifts.

He had just entered the palace when Isis ran up to him and into his arms. "Mahad, I heard about the wolf. This is terrible."

"Believe me, I'm still having trouble dealing with the news. I have already stepped up security.'

"Of course. We cannot allow people to die. The wolf must be driven off or, if necessary, killed."

"Naturally," he replied but inside he was stunned by Isis' words. Then again, no one knows that I'm the wolf. Isis may understand if I tell her and make it clear that I am not in control.

"She won't understand. No one will understand. But, if you don't believe us, then go ahead and tell her."

"I'll ask hypothetically."

"Isis," he said slowly. "Suppose this wolf is actually a cursed human. Someone who had never killed before and had no control when transformed. What then?"

"Well, that would be awful and of course wouldn't confess for fear of punishment. I expect that if they suspect they're cursed that they will take precautions to prevent killing again. If not, then killing them will be necessary. We cannot let a cursed human run around and kill as they please."

"Well, hopefully it's just a wolf."

"See?" the shadows said. "She doesn't understand."

Mahad supposed the shadows had a point. No one would understand that he was a werewolf. But I didn't know what I would become last night. Now I know and I will do what I can to protect the people from my bloodthirsty tendencies.

Mahad guided the first unit of the night shift into the city and stationing them where the greatest concentration of people lived and at the marketplace where the attack had occurred. Once they were in place, Mahad slipped into an alley and quickly headed out into the desert. He continued to move, desperate to put lots of distance between himself and the city. Perhaps, if I can't see it, I won't be tempted to attack.

The desert sands glowed with the fading sunset. The eastern sky was already dark, but no moon yet. He watched the night sky take over, day becoming night. The moon began to rise and as its light fell on Mahad, he felt the darkness in his heart spread to consume the organ before sweeping through his body. It would be so easy to give into the darkness; it is so strong. He felt and saw his change occur faster than before, most likely because his body had adjusted to the curse. Once again, he had the mind of a wolf who was ready to hunt, kill, eat, and cause terror. He looked around growled. No humans. How was he supposed to expend his vicious feelings if there were no humans? His nose inhaled the air and he caught a human scent that was his, but he didn't know it was his. All he knew was he smelled a human and he would follow it to kill it and maybe others.

He raced across the sand, consuming distance quickly with his larger muscles. He soon arrived at the gate of the city and the myriad of human scents was almost overwhelming. He gave a howl of delight before racing into the city and toward where he smelled the most humans. Once again, screams erupted and his killing frenzy was triggered. He saw a human frozen in fear and knew she would die first. He charged toward her and suddenly there was another target in front of him and he had a spear in his hands. He slunk toward the spear-wielding human, eyes locked on his target. He growled softly before lunging to the left, his jaws seizing the wooden handled and wrenching it from the human. He tossed it aside before knocking the human down and killing him.

He saw more humans with spears charging toward him. He snarled at the armed people. This is more trouble than it was worth. Best to retreat, he thought. He started to run for the gates. The humans ran after him, yelling. He passed by one human, saw a flash of metal, and then pain in his side. He yelped and then dark feral anger burned through him.

He whirled around, snarling angrily. His eyes glowed brighter, the fur on his spine standing up. He lunged forward, chomping down on a leg, and ripping it off. The human screamed as he fell to the ground. The wolf leaped onto him and ripped him to pieces. The thrill of the kill sent him to a higher level of brutality. He was soon a whirlwind of destruction as he murdered the remaining guards there before murdering some more people and then eating from each of the guards.

He licked his chops as he swallowed the last of a kidney. He gazed at the death and terror he had caused and his tail swished happily. He had had a wonderful night and looked forward to next time, but for now he needed to sleep and slipped into the darkest shadows to avoid detection.