It almost made it to her before she fired the bolt, and struck it in the face.
It collapsed on the ground, momentarily dazed, reaching for the arrow, and wrenching it free.
She dove as the arrow exploded, taking both of its claws and most of its face off in bloody bone peppered chunks. It wheezed out the full contents of its lungs as its dangling lower jaw fell away as a new, more wolf like snout appeared, complete with ever bigger teeth. The shriek it let out as its mouth completed its transformation was deafening, and enough to curdle blood.
It regained its feet, its eyes now blood-red, its snout elongated a full fur covered foot from its eyes, and its teeth now numbered fifty-eight. It fixed her with its glowing red eyes, and smiled.
She stood unwavering, unafraid. Staring it in its eye, she pulled the only arrow in her quiver, and drew back the bow.
The beast strode forward slowly, watching her every expression, every movement, its eyes still anxious, nervous, hesitant. It stared from the girl to the serrated arrow-head... and stopped.
Did part of him recognize the glint of the arrowhead? did it scare him? This couldn't be mere chance.
THIS particular arrowhead she had augmented, seemingly on a lark; a gut feeling that she had to confess now was more proof that there were no such things as chance or coincidence. She'd dipped it in molten silver she'd melted down from some old Nazi medals. She had joked to Evan when he happened upon her as she fashioned it, "Instinct... and good common sense. Like a handgun or a condom:'Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it'."
The beast growled, clenching and unclenching its claws, tensed to leap from out of the arrows path.
Another impulse... she smirked at the creature and winked, "Poor puppy, are you scared of a little bling? Come on," she held the arrow, but dropped the bow, "How about now? Or have you always been afraid of girls?"
It was still hesitant.
Lara stood still, eyes focused, breathing steady, waiting for 'it' - the voice inside her mind that guided her every step on this rock to give the word, the impulse... she breathed slowly, waiting for that moment to come.
The beast finally tore a tree branch the thickness of a lamp-post off a tree with a casual swipe, and hurled it at her with impossible ease.
She dove and rolled toward the creature; ducking under not just the massive projectile, but also the charging werewolf. Insanity, impulse, the last thing ANYONE faced with this thing would think to do - even the werewolf.
The powerful beast had launched itself at her with its massive claws. It had dug them into the earth, and pulled it's thighs into a crouch and sprang forward to propel its powerful form through the air, they were now out in front of it, reaching out for its prey, not anticipating a forward roll. She made it pay.
She instantly drove the arrow up like a spear into the beasts exposed abdomen, right under the ribs, then pulled it down, opening it, the werewolfs momentum pulling the gash open .
The beast howled in agony, and crashed into the treeline just behind her.
She rolled into a crouch, right leg extended, left thigh bent, ready to spring forward or to the side, staying low to the ground, arrow still clutched in her right hand.
The beast rolled over, seemingly in shock from the impact, its movements slowed, its gutteral rumbling snarl building to an inevitable howl. It staggered to its feet, stood tall, stared at her, puffed out its huge ribcage.. and almost doubled over in pain as it clutched at its wide open stomach.
She stayed crouched, focused, primed to attack, to respond. Her heart racing in her chest, her senses heightened to a degree she had ever experienced before; she waited.
The beast panicked, stabbed its left claw into its abdomen, thumb and fingers on opposing sides of its breached stomach, and clutched the wound closed; thick blood oozed from between its white knuckled fingers as it stared at her in disbelieving terror.
She remained coiled.
The wounded beast lunged forward in desperation, slashing out at her head with its massive right claw, driving off its powerful right thigh, extending the leg fully as it drove its full weight into the motion. It should have taken her head off.
She once more surprised him with her fearlessness. driving off her left thigh she launched herself into a roll that brought her directly behind him, and drove the arrowhead into his hyper-extended right Achilles tendon, tearing it.
The werewolf shrieked in pain and terror, whipping its massive right arm back blindly, it caught her in the right upper arm, sending her flying, arrow still imbedded in the beasts calf.
She landed on the ground, ten yards away, dazed, her right upper arm smarting, but unbroken. She quickly got to her feet, and turned to the beast.
The werewolf was sobbing, its remaining hand being used to hold itself up as it crawled toward the treeline.
She got up, racing, once more toward the wounded creature.
It turned at the sound of her racing feet, its eyes alive with undisguised terror.
She reached for the arrow.
In blind panic, the beast pushed back from its right arm, and spun over on its back, knocking her over by tripping her with its left leg, but slamming its right leg down on top of the arrow, breaking it off, imbedding the tip into it's knee, crippling it.
Lara hit the ground on her shoulder blades, just missing the back of her head. She was momentarily overcome by the shock of the impact and for a moment lost her momentum, before panic set in; the beast was close by, he could just drop on top of her, and...
He was on his back, crying, skittering away from her as if she were death itself.
Her eyes stare in disbelief as she watched the beast rip the talisman from its chest and claw its way to its own feet, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" The agent cried as he transformed back to human.
Lara scampered to her feet as he reached one of Evan's fallen pistols.
"GET BACK!" he cried in terror, "YOU GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"
She stood still, watching his anguished expression, the uncontrollable tremors causing his gun hand to shake. He was terrified of her, too scared to even take the simple action of pulling a trigger.
"WHAT ARE YOU?!," he repeated in fear as he staggered anguishing forward in no particular direction, just anywhere she wasn't. "SAVE YOUR FRIEND!," he shouted desperately.
Lara shook her head slightly, "EVAN!"
The agent smiled weakly, "YEAH. GO SAVE HIM. I COULD HEAR HIM GURGLING FROM HERE. I THINK HE MAY BE UNCONSCIOUS! FACE DOWN IN WATER WHILE HIS GIRLFRIEND'S OFF PLAYING WITH THE DOG... WHILE HE DROWNS! SOME HERO!"
She turned and ran toward the ravine.
The agent staggered quickly away.
Lara climbed part way down the cliff into the ravine before jumping down and turning the unconscious Evan over on his back. She slapped his face, and pressed her hand to his chest to feel for a breath, "Come on 'James', stay with me.. please."
He opened his eyes slightly, "Nag, nag, nag," he whispered.
She slapped him again.
He smiled weakly, "Did you put 'Cugo' down ma?"
She grinned. "No, he's still alive... but I think I 'neutered' him."
Evan winced, "Yipes."
"I think he may be out of tricks. I'm going to get him. Will you be...?"
"Go get 'im cowgirl. I'll be right here... soaking"
"He has a gun," she added, a note of anxiety in her voice.
"Yours?"
"No, one of yours."
He smiled, "The Glock... and no he doesn't. He has one bullet. I was saving it for me if my grenade didn't work. Go get him. Get the answers you came here for 'L'."
...
The agent hadn't made it very far. He was barely out of shouting distance. The pain in his right leg unbearable. His left hand clutched his open wound on his abdomen as his frightened eyes scanned the darkness for HER.
He staggered toward a tree when he heard the low snarl of a wolf just behind him.
He turned and fired his only shot wildly into the dark, popping the breach open. Empty.
He started to laugh, "A girl," he mused as his sanity began to give way to the bliss of madness.
The first wolf stepped from the shadows, drawn by the scent of his blood and fear.
"A fucking girl... a single, high-bred, English orphaned bitch. Hehehe. Now I know how Philip the second of Spain felt."
He laughed till he collapsed to the ground; and never stopped, even as the first three wolves came into the clearing he was staggering into, and never let up as they ripped into him, only stopping when they tore his throat out.
...
Lara entered the clearing and fired a single gunshot from her Glock into the air that sent the wolves running.
The agent lay, his body torn to pieces, his face twisted in a grin.
She frowned as she bent down and picked up his blood soaked talisman. The ruby glowed faintly.
She turned and walked back toward the ravine. This was only getting started for her.