I’ve not written many monster tales, this is one of my first, written years ago.
The moon sliced holes into the darkness of the forest as I walked in the decaying leaves left over from autumn’s past. I relished these nights, alone, a warm breeze at my back.
I drew in the night air and caught an odd scent wafting across my nose. I listened and waited.
The forest stirred, and I glimpsed the glow of fire. The hunters, humans, were in my forest with their weapons and careless steps. My eyes narrowed as anger surged in waves from the pit of my stomach. I had long ago found my ability to keep myself hidden from their destructive weapons. But fire struck fear in my heart. Those flames forced even the bravest of us to flee into the night.
I crept through the underbrush, keeping low and quiet. Ahead of me, under my pack’s great spreading oak tree, something new to my eyes stood. It appeared to be one of us at first glance, soft greyish black fur standing along its straight long back. But it turned and stood upright, like the man beasts. Its front feet opened and closed, not feet at all, but hands. Large, long hands. At its full height it stood bigger than any wolf I had ever seen before.
Long times past, when I was still a pup and ventured into the farmlands to prove my bravery to my pack mates, I once overheard the elders speak of a creature, half wolf, half man. The creatures in those stories hid themselves among us, then changed into man beasts. But this creature, this new wolf seemed more wolf than the monsters in those old mostly forgotten tales.
The wolf thing growled and shot its glance toward a stream sparkling under the moon. On the far side of the water, the humans were spreading themselves across the forest in a line. Last time they burned the trees. But that was seasons ago, and the forest was almost whole again.
The strange wolf thing sprinted toward the line of men. He ran all four of his strange feet planted on the ground, like one of us. I followed as he slowed and cut behind the very last man, out of sight and unnoticed. He crept around the man forcing him away from his companions almost playfully.
Amazing really, his subtleness of movement, the quiet beauty of a pure predator. I admired his skill and watched, mesmerized by this new wolf.
The man stumbled among the fallen branches of my forest and the new wolf hung just out of his sight. Brilliant, I thought, just brilliant. I had never seen the men from the outskirts show such fear.
The man began crying as the graceful creature drew close. Instead of calling out to his companions for help, he cowered in tears, trying desperately to shield himself. The air filled with pungent aroma of urine and I knew the man’s fear was great.
With one mighty swipe of an odd claw tipped hand, the wolf thing ripped the man’s head away from his body. The smell of warm blood caressed my nostrils. I watched in silence as the new wolf devoured the hunter, tearing his insides out.
The others drew close, their fire casting a familiar and terrifying yellow glow on the leaves. No matter his size, I knew this wolf could not battle the entire band of men to any good end.
I stepped from the shadows hiding my presence and approached him. He jumped away from his kill, growling. His eyes flashed with an amber glow. The thing spoke to me in a series guttural grunts and clicks, unable to form even the simplest words. Sounds of the hunters surrounded us. Time was growing short.
I spoke, but he could not understand my words. Instead I grabbed him and pulled, like we do to the young ones who have not learned to hear. I had to make him understand that he needed to follow me, that the man beasts were coming. He jerked his eyes back and forth, the bobbing lights among the trees raising a panic that shown on his long face.
Suddenly, a flash of blinding light and hot metal met flesh. The wolf thing dropped to ground. He writhed in pain. Blood from his hind leg stained the forest floor. Growing frightened, but not willing to leave this amazing beast behind as the men began to yell, I bit him hard and growled out an order. He snapped away from the pain in his leg and looked at me, his eyes strange. He nuzzled me and stood.
I was relieved. I led him away from the man beasts toward a large outcropping of rocks where the caves hid my pack in times of need. We wove ourselves between the boulders, me making sure the spaces were wide enough for his great girth to pass. The hunters followed, but their voices grew faint as we pushed distance between them and us.
Finding a partially hidden cave, we slipped inside. He collapsed, his breathing labored. Faint calls of the men echoed along the canyon walls. I pulled the wolf thing deeper into the cave as he struggled to breath. The wound seemed less than serious, but he still drew ragged and shallow. I tried to calm him, and keep his cries quiet.
The hunters’ voices eventually started to fade. I crept to mouth of the cave and peered into the darkness, the moon sinking behind the hills. They were giving up and leaving. My heart sang.
I turned to tell my new friend the news and found myself standing not a hare’s breath from a naked and wounded man beast. His eyes burned wild. His mouth dripped with saliva, his fingers clenched in fists. Fear gripped my chest as he called out, his strange words echoing through the canyon. The voices of the men rose again and drew near. I knew instantly this unnatural beast was my end.
