Chapter 11

Khalil and Alexander began walking to the forest behind the Town of Beginnings because that was where the paper said that the werewolf was last seen. "Hey, do you actually think that this werewolf was cursed or bitten?" asked Khalil. Alexander mulled over the question for a bit "Honestly it's more likely that he was cursed rather than bitten but without a doubt, he isn't from one of the known wolf families that's for sure". Alexander explained. "Why are you so sure that he was cursed rather than bitten and werewolves have noble families?". Khalil asked further. Alexander looks at Khalil like he was dumb then remembered he had just entered the tower.

"I really need to remember that". He thought. "Ok, werebeasts know that their bite can turn people, so they don't really use it in battle at all. Also, more people get cursed into becoming werebeasts than you think because they'll end up making a deal with a witch or in some cases a devil. And yes, werewolves have noble families and there are other noble families of werebeasts as well, and if this really was a werewolf from a noble family then they'd have stopped this rampage a while ago because the quest we'd accepted had been up on the board for 2 months already". Alexander explained further. "And before you ask, yes there are differences between a werewolf with noble blood and a werewolf without one. If this wolf had a noble bloodline, then he wouldn't be going on this rampage because they would have more control over their form, instincts, and impulses, and they would've completely dominated all the animals in the forest and would have some magical abilities". He added. "If this was a werewolf from a noble family, would you have told me to accept the request?" Khalil asked. "No, you wouldn't have stood a chance against one as you are now". Alexander said without no hesitation.

"But against something like this you most definitely do" he added. Khalil heard this and felt dejected, he knew that there was a big gap between himself and everyone else in the Tower and knew that because he had entered the tower later than almost everyone else, he was at a disadvantage. He had to become stronger. They had arrived at the village where the werewolf was last seen, and Khalil was taken aback by what he was looking at.

The entire village was massacred. Men, women, and children were all dead, even the livestock weren't spared. Some were half-eaten, somewhere missing parts of their limbs, some had big chunks of their flesh ripped off, and their guts were spilled on the floor. "This is the damage that one werewolf is capable of doing". Khalil said aghast walking around the ruined village. "A large majority of the villager's hearts are missing; we need to get this fucker fast before it gets stronger". Alexander said. "What does their hearts missing have to do with this"? Khalil asked. " Werebeasts when they kill consume the hearts of their prey because that's what increases their strength". Alexander said. "So the more hearts this thing consumes the higher the chances are I won't be able to kill it". Khalil said, realizing the situation. "Ok, well the trail of blood leads into the forest but since it's the morning I'm guessing this thing has turned back into its human form so let's get going". Khalil continued. Khalil and Alexander ventured through the forest with Khalil following the beast's footprints, claw marks left on the trees, and scattered trails of blood on the forest ground.

"This is actually harder than I expected". Khalil said. "Why?". Alexander questioned "Because normally when an animal kills its prey it'll head back to its lair to either eat the prey or to rest. We saw that it didn't because of what happened in the village. But its tracks are very sporadic. They are heading to the same place and also, it's in human form now so its tracks are starting to look human and from the other human tracks I've seen there's a lot of traffic in this forest". Khalil explained. "So, what I'm hearing is you aren't able to track it?" Alexander said sarcastically. "No, I can but it'll take a while, but we can't really afford to take too long". Khalil said. "Wait, Alexander since this person can't control their impulses can we do anything to forcefully trigger their transformation and bring them towards us?" Khalil asked. "Yes, people who are cursed into being werewolves will trigger their transformation with almost anything, if they get too angry, upset, feel in danger, or smell a lot of blood they'll transform." Alexander explained. "Ok, then let's go get some bait and hunt ourselves a wolf." Khalil said smiling.