Part I

Chapter Three

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They followed the path through the forest, pausing only once to allow Izaak to change out the bullets in his gun. "Silver bullets," he explained. "More effective. But I've only got fifty, so we'll have to make 'em count."

The trail paralleled the town for most of its length before swerving deeper into the trees. The contrast between the light snow cover and the foliage, aided by the infrequent moonlight shining from above, allowed them to navigate without much difficulty. They didn't want to risk detection by creating their own light, so kept to the shadows and relied on their sense of hearing to provide any forewarning. They traveled silently.

Presently, the pale moonlight failed completely as clouds moved in. The trackers paused, listening. Kaze would have liked to say that it was unusually silent…but it had been that way since the beginning of their trek. She stared intently into the trees outside their path. A branch snapped, and Kaze tensed. Izaak cocked his gun, and they waited. After a small eternity, nothing happened, and Kaze's glowing eyes sought out Izaak's ahead of her. He shrugged and they started moving again.

A lesser demon-hunter might have had his nerves frayed by now. But the two were used to extended periods of tense, ominous silence, and so they took it all in stride. They had traveled a fair distance from the village, maybe the better part of a mile, Kaze mused. She was thankful for her warm boots that made the hiking so effortless. The material moved well with the ground and her foot, giving her purchase even on slippery surfaces (aided by the dragon scales that tended to grip the terrain), but also keeping even the sharpest and most uncomfortable rock from bothering her. She doubted the boots would ever have to be replaced, and…

Something large, furry, and heavy slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. She quickly rolled over and kicked as hard as she could up into its midsection. With a loud whuff, it was thrown off to the side. It promptly leapt toward her again, arms and claws extended. She somersaulted backwards, a sword appearing in each hand, and sliced upwards as she jumped to her feet. The tip of her right blade caught it in the jaw, splitting it; she brought it around and ducked under its outstretched arms, driving both blades together into the creature's left side, slicing it wide open as she ran swiftly past.

Two loud shots resounded in her ears, and she turned to find that Izaak had blown out the monster's neck. It gave a gurgling screech and clutched at the gaping wound, even as it attempted to charge the gunslinger. A split second later, Izaak had holstered the firearm and drawn his sword. Holding it low and to his right, he raced forward, and swept the weapon diagonally up through the monster's chest. It screamed again, falling onto its back with the force of the blow. Izaak then gripped the sword with both hands above his head and plunged the blade into its skull. It lay still. The wind stirred, and a few snowflakes fluttered down from the sky.

And just like that, it was over. Kaze hadn't even had the chance to start breathing hard. She drew near Izaak and the werewolf. "So that's what a werewolf looks like, huh?" It was bulky and huge – easily nine and a half feet tall, maybe even ten, and covered in muscle. It had the appearance of a gray wolf, one with thick, mottled black and tan fur, but its form was that of a human. Curved black claws sprouted from large, human-like hands, and wide, but somewhat flattened, wolf-like feet. A mangled tail lay twisted beneath. It wore no clothes.

Izaak nodded slowly as he stared down at it. "Ya. A gauru form," he answered, somewhat absently. Kaze stopped beside him and looked at the remains of its ruined head and gaping, toothy jaw.

"Don't they transform back when they die?"

"…It takes awhile, sometimes."

"Ah." She glanced at Izaak. He seemed lost in a trance. She nudged him. "Hey. You okay?"

"Hmm?" He shook his head and grinned. "Yeah. Nothin' to worry about. Just lost in memories for a moment there." He started as he suddenly realized something. "Are you alright?" he asked, quickly, concern filling his eyes. "Did he get you anywhere, any bite marks?" He grabbed Kaze's shoulders and started examining her for wounds.

"Izaak, I'm fine!" She broke away. "He barely touched me. Just got knocked to the ground."

Izaak watched her for a moment to make sure, then nodded, convinced. He yanked his broadsword out of the head and wiped the mess off on a relatively clean patch of fur. "Let's go report back, then. With any luck, this'll be the last of our problems."

"'Kay. Let's hope it wasn't Sean's…" A long, loud howl suddenly split the silence. Izaak and Kaze jerked to attention, staring in the direction it came from, further into the night. Several other howls joined it, creating a fierce, wild chorus. A few seconds later they abruptly stopped. The two waited, ears straining in the unexpected stillness. Then, from a greater distance, a single low-pitched tone began, rising in a slow crescendo, gathering intensity until the demon-hunters could feel the sound resonating within them. The vibrations deepened as the music dropped in pitch. Then it ceased. The two stood, entranced by the memory of the sound held in the absolute silence.

As one, the hunters shook themselves out of the spell and launched down the path at full speed. "C'mon!" Izaak shouted, urgently. "We've got to stop them!"

They didn't need any further words to start preparing for the coming battle. Izaak readied a few spells, gun at the ready, while Kaze, less magically inclined, withdrew two glass vials from a pouch on her belt. They ran, Izaak in the lead, Kaze following closely on his heals.

The wind had picked up slightly, and a gentle snowfall had begun. As the two pounded along the trail, footing became slightly treacherous, as the wet, slippery white blurred the outlines of rocks and fallen branches.

Kaze suddenly registered the rapid beats of another set of heavy steps behind them. She risked a glace backward. Then she threw her weight into Izaak. "Duck!" They tumbled to the ground as a black shape sailed over their heads. Izaak had Divine Retribution out, prepared to fire at the werewolf, but realized that it hadn't stopped to attack as it retreated into the darkness ahead of them. He frowned in confusion. "What the-"

"Look!" Kaze grabbed his arm and pointed into the trees to their right. A large, hulking dark shape whipped by, followed by a second. A third passed them on the left.

"What in the world…?"

Realization dawned. "…They don't care about us. They're all heading for something else."

"Another town to destroy?" Izaak growled.

"I don't know." Kaze stood and tugged Izaak to his feet. "Come on!"

Together, they continued down the path once again, being overtaken and passed by the occasional werewolf. After a few more minutes of this, they broke out of the tree line, and were greeted by the sight of several dozen werewolves swarming up the wide expanse of a snowy hill. They were brought to a halt by pure astonishment.

At the top of the hill, a fair distance away, stood the majestic and imposing form of a pure white werewolf, easily the largest they had yet seen. It clearly waited for the arrival of its kindred, yet seemed to remain indifferent to their presence.

Kaze stood, mouth slightly open in amazement, while Izaak looked on grimly. "Izaak…how are we supposed to kill them all?"

"We start with the leader. That one." He nodded at the massive creature. "If we're lucky, the rest will disperse."

Kaze managed a lop-sided grin. "Well, what are we waiting for then?" And she took off, up the hill.

As they made their way through the mob of werewolves, who had begun to mill about on the sides of the hill as their leader showed no inclination to move just yet, they started to be noticed. Heads turned in their direction. Flashing eyes and a collective growl alerted the travelers to their peril.

Werewolves closed in from the sides and behind them. But the two were coordinated as a team, and the werewolves were not. And they knew how to handle great numbers of enemies.

Izaak let loose the spell that he had been charging. Fierce lightning crackled, illuminating Kaze's path and cutting a swath up the hill through their attackers. They were greeted by yelps and howls, the stench of scorched fur and flesh stinging their noses.

A green-tinted vial shattered on the stones beneath Kaze's feet, releasing silvery arcs of light that sliced through the monsters closing in behind Izaak, keeping glinting teeth and claws at bay. The demon-hunters continued upward, untouched, Izaak's waves of lightning and unerring gun blazing a corridor through the wolves, while Kaze's whirling spirit swords kept the stragglers off their backs.

At last, they reached the top of the hill. As they crested the rise, the white wolf glanced over his shoulder and turned as if just registering their presence, but somehow Kaze doubted that he was caught by surprise. A final bout of lightning thundered ahead of her, slamming into the immense creature and laying low the werewolves in an arc surrounding him. The whirling blades spun around the perimeter this created, before spiraling into the center and striking the target from multiple directions in an explosion of light. An angry snarl came from the beast, but it did not appear to be affected by their efforts.

Kaze gaped in surprise. Nothing had worked!? She didn't have time to wonder, however, as Izaak was closing upon her quickly. She knelt and turned to him, signaling. He saw and understood; arriving, he stepped into her cupped hands, and she rose, boosting him high into the air.

Izaak somersaulted once before nearing the peak of his flight, cloak billowing. Then he fired upon the wolf leader, raining silvery doom down upon it. It was struck once in the chest and once in the shoulder, before the creature roared viciously at him. The third bullet was dodged, the fourth, fifth, and sixth were parried with blurring metallic claws, and the seventh barely grazed its thigh. Izaak landed on the opposite side of the wolf, straightened, and fired once straight at its heart. But it ducked low onto all fours, and Kaze jerked to the side barely in time to avoid having her head blown off.

She gave a startled cry. "Izaak!" He had a horrified look on his face, and the gigantic wolf gazed up at him, peeling its lips back into a toothy, evil grin.

The fighters paused for a moment, both humans breathing heavily from their exertions. Kaze had her twin swords at the ready, slightly crouched; Izaak had his firearm pointed up in the air, giving his profile to the enemy. The wolf crouched low, most of his weight centered over his feet, arms extended wide out in front of him, claws deep in the ground, as if to rip the very earth out from under the gunslinger. He studied the man intently, with calculating green eyes.

Wind ruffled the thick, lustrous fur on the wolf's heavily muscled back, and snow swirled around them. He flicked his ears back at Kaze.

She made the first move, intending to cut deep into his hamstrings for a crippling blow. He launched into motion at the same time, whirling up, around, and down, backhanding her hard with his right hand and driving her downwards into the snow. He took a few bullets during the action, before continuing his spin and swiping upwards with his left claw, catching the gun and launching it into the air.

Kaze rolled away and staggered to her feet, momentarily stunned. The wolf turned his upswing into a downward blow upon her friend, but Isaak dodged nimbly out of the way, drawing his broadsword in the same action, allowing it to cut deeply into the passing arm on its way out of the sheath. The female demon-hunter shook off her disorientation and charged toward the beast, leaping and stabbing down with both swords straight into its lower back. The wolf jerked upward in surprise, howling, and tried to reach around to swat her off.

Izaak took advantage of the diversion and dove forward, towards the ground, rolling to carve up and back into the wolf's left hamstring. He succeeded and the wolf collapsed upon that leg, with a pained yelp, catching himself with his claws.

Kaze, now balanced upon the hilt of the rightmost sword, which remained buried in the creature, twisted the other, yanked it free, and plunged it again higher into his back, now straight through the right shoulder blade and out through the chest.

The werewolf gave a mighty bellow and nearly collapsed on the spot. But instead, he managed to surge to his feet. Kaze pulled out her original foothold, hanging on by the sword buried in his shoulder, and attempted to deal a finishing blow through his neck. He narrowed his eyes, ears flattened in pain and fury, and reached over his shoulder to snag the sword hilt and her arm with his claws.

Ripping the blade out, he spun and violently whipped her at her friend. Then he turned away again, and, ignoring his injuries, dropped to all fours and dashed up the mountainside, flinging snow in his haste.

Izaak had attempted to catch Kaze in a way so as to minimize any injuries from the fall, but they still fell hard, tumbling a short ways down the rough slope of the hill, before coming to rest in a tangled sprawl. Kaze groaned and rolled off of him, coughing. "You – cough – you okay?"

"…Yeah," he grunted as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He had a gash in his left shoulder from the near miss with the monster's claw, and several scrapes and bruises from the fall, but nothing too serious. "You?"

"I've seen better days. And worse. Help me bandage this?" She revealed her right arm, which had several deep slices where the werewolf had grabbed her.

"Sure thing." He snatched her hand and pulled her to her feet. "But lets make sure these guys don't try anything funny, first." He inclined his head towards the gathering of werewolves who had just noticed that their leader had abandoned them. A collective cry rose up, and they started swiftly climbing the hill, following in their idol's wake.

The demon-hunters brandished their swords as they were overrun. But, again, they were ignored for the most part. Except for the occasional snap and claw, which they easily parried, they were left alone without any trouble.

The two humans sighed in unison when it was over. "Well," Izaak chuckled. "That was fun."

"Yeah. I guess this means we've got to track that thing down again?"

"Yep." Izaak started back up the hill with the goal in mind of retrieving Retribution. "Don't worry, kiddo. Now that we know what we're facing, it'll be a piece of cake!"

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to be continued…